Life with a collar
by Satisfactionnotguaranteed
Summary: Gender bend Edward. Her name is Eloise Elric, and shes become quite famous for her skill as a con and thief. After Alphonse died there was nothing to live for anymore, so why not? Roy however, has other plans. open to suggestions. ;) review! May become RoyxEd(Eloise) not sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

In a smoke-filled tavern on the outskirts of a post war city, a young woman laid slumped over her table. Her pitcher of beer twice gone. She'd been there all night, but she was a regular so it was nothing new. As daylight broke through the musty glass window to her left, she raised her head. Amber eyes met an amber sunrise. Her golden braid a bit disheveled. She sighed heavily and stretched her overly stiff neck and shoulders, then waved down the waiter.

"Another round.." She said as she pushed her pitcher to the end of the table with a quiet skid. A huge yawn found its place on her face as she sat back, now stretching out her legs, one of which was numb from the knee down. Feeling a bit of a chill in the air, she slipped her arms back through her scarlet jacket, being sure that she didn't snag the sleeve on her automail. She was used to the response her automail recieved from most people, so it didn't bother her much anymore.

A tall man with a fresh uniform approached her table, and when she was about to repeat her request, the man put his hands on his hips like some sort of disappointed parent.

"Sorry miss, but you've been cut off."

She glared a bit with a confused smugness and held up a hand suggestively.

"Cut off?" She responded though hers was definitely accusing.

"Why don't you go get yourself a shower, and some real breakfast hm?"

"Ben...come on...you guys never turn me away..."

"Sorry El, but the boss says you need to go do something with your life before you rot in that booth. You've been drinking here in the same spot for three days."

His expression softened a little, his blue eyes locking with her golden ones. "Do yourself a favor and go get some fresh air. You'll feel better." He said and then picked up her pitcher and glass and walked back to the dish pit.

With an unmistakable pout, she stood from the table, which surprisingly took a bit of effort, dropped a few bucks down and then made her way out the door.

She was a bit short for her age, but she was beautiful. With baby soft skin that had been ever so gently kissed by the sun, long hair spun of gold, and eyes the purest ochre, she was definitely someone to stop and stare at. Though with her attitude a person might get punched for doing it. She'd been wandering these parts for years, trying to find ways to atone for her sin. The sin that took her brother from her, and created a monster in the place of her mother. Was there even a way to earn forgiveness for such a crime? She'd prayed over it enough times to hope so, but how can you know for sure? She moved to her car and climbed in, she'd borrowed it from a fairly well off man the next city over. Though, he was probably still too hungover to remember she'd taken it.

"Hmhm, never gets old." She hummed under her breath as she enjoyed the luxury of such a fine vehicle. Her only complaint with the thing was the steering wheel which sat a little too high to be truly comfortable. Next stop was Central City. There were plenty of poor saps there to lift off of. She was quite the pickpocket these days, she made her living off of it after all. After Alphonse had died, she didn't see a point in trying to live on the straight and narrow. It was too hard, took too long, and didn't usually end up very good anyways. So she'd decided to live out her current life as the best con artist in all of Amestris. With a cheerful air, she set off.

 _Central Command_.

"This doesn't make any sense. " Roy commented as he paced his office, looking over the large area map tacked to his wall. "How does one girl, steal millions of dollars worth of things over a period of six years without anyone catching her..?"

"We have searched everywhere. She's just too good." Falman commented. He was tired of the chase, for six long years they'd been after the Fullmetal Alchemist. A young, mysterious woman with one automail arm, one automail leg, a notorious red jacket, and one hell of an attitude. Fullmetal Alchemist was her case name, but she'd adopted many nicknames over time, the most popular ones being the Scarlett Bandit and LaRosa. So maybe they _were_ a bit cheesy, but she didn't really mind, as long as she had a name everyone recognized and respected.

"Where's she hiding..."Roy continued beneath his breath as he put an _X_ through each place he'd looked as of recent, and each place that had ground men on the hunt. He'd been at this for three solid hours by this time, with no leads. The map was harsh on the eyes, with bright red crosses through hundreds of sites spanning in almost every direction.

"Look, boss, maybe shes just not in the area? Maybe shes got connections with the Underground?"

"Oh I'm sure she does, but she isn't afraid of doing things in plain daylight...she flaunts her skills and runs off with her treasure. If we time it right, we could use that to our advantage."

Riza walked in and sighed, the man was a workaholic. "Colonel, You've been ordered to take a break. _Apparently_ you've been putting off way too much of your paperwork by searching for this brat." She said ' _apparently'_ loosely, it was no secret that the man was slacking in his official work. "We'll find Scarlet one of these days. For now, focus on the stacks of work you have already." She ordered and then took a seat on the sofa, flipping through some old documents. Roy took on an exasperated demeanor and scrutinized the stacks of file work that posed on his desk like an ugly beast.

El smiled as she sold off a Lot of jewelry she'd swiped from a recently deceased woman's mansion. The way she saw it, the old lady didn't have a use for it anymore so why not? She didn't much like the thought of relatives scouting her house for valuables, so technically she was doing a great service by taking them off their hands.

"And four thousand...that it today love?" The tradesman asked as he placed the jewels in a padded safe. He was her number one guy when it came to cashing out, he had his own record of thieving so they shared a mutual agreement to never know too much about each other.

"That's all for right now...I'll be back sometime...hmhm.." She grinned once again and left. "Thanks Peter."

So much to steal, so many people to con. Occasionally she'd allow herself to be caught, just until the papers came out with the news, then she'd break free. It was the same each time. No matter how many chains they placed on her, she always managed to get away. Central City was where she really wanted to play. She didn't know what she was looking for, maybe a challenge? Who knew, but she was hoping it would be fun. With a quick adjustment to her automail arm, she left. Wyn was always giving her a hard time about how she always needed repairs. His work was the best as far as she was concerned, but he could be a bit of a pain in the ass when she was getting it fixed.

After about three hours of driving the Fullmetal alchemist arrived. Central city was a bit bigger than she'd previously imagined it to be, but she was pleasantly surprised. A bigger city meant more people to play with. She drove slowly until she parked outside a bar and left the keys on the seat for whoever wanted it next, it had served her well.

"Surprise me." She ordered as she sat down at the counter, she wasn't blind, she noticed the poster with her face on it that hung behind the bartender. She hadn't been as active the last two years to be honest. It felt good to be back though, and she was sure that the heat on her was mostly put out by now.

As her drink was served she threw it back in two large gulps. Embracing the ever so faint rush of fresh alcohol down her dry throat.

"You're not from around here are you little one?" A man beside her asked as he sipped a cold beer. He was decent looking, not anything to gawk at though. He had messy brown hair, just a tad bit of stubble and crystal green eyes. Of course, that wasn't on her mind at the moment. She turned on her stool to face the man, a coy grin playing on her lips.

"Did you just call me ' little one'?..." She questioned. Though she smiled, there was an air of danger about her.

The man seemed to scoff and gave her a dumb look. "Yeah? Why, don't like it? Little one?"

 _Fast forward three minutes._

The man, who had introduced himself as William, launched out of the bar, smashing through the closed door. He landed with a few displaced groans and grunts, and flat on his face. Without any time to think, he launched to his feet and tried to attack the alchemist, who made her way onto the front steps. Of course, that's where she stuck out her automail foot and let the man run square into it, knocking the wind out of him and cracking a few important bones here and there. Mostly ribs.

She took one last sip of her refilled drink and then poured the rest over the heaving man's head. "Well. Good day." She smiled and strode away. The sun was shining brightly now and the crisp air gave the hint that fall was on the way. With that, she set off on her journey into the intricate web of Central City.

"Sir!" Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc abruptly rushed into Roys office, startling him to the point that he spilled his coffee all over an important paper he had been writing. The Colonel didn't move, instead he sat very still and quiet as to not give in to the unhealthy urge of lighting his subordinate ablaze.

"S...Sorry Colonel.." Havoc apologized and felt the nervous prickle of sweat accumulate on his brow, for his own safety he stayed near the door for a quick escape should he need it.

Roy exhaled heavily, then gave himself another moment or two before speaking.

"I trust this is important? It had better be more important than this paper I was writing...three hours Havoc...this paper is worth three hours of my time..." He warned but watched as his teammate approached his desk and set down a file, avoiding the spilled liquid.

"Whats this..?"Mustang asked, sliding the folder closer and quietly flipping it open.

"It's Scarlet Sir. She's been spotted just southwest of here. We questioned a man who claimed he'd been in a physical altercation with her."

Roy's entire demeanor transformed as he looked over the incident. A wild chain of emotions and thoughts invading his senses. For almost a decade he'd been on the hunt for this particular kid. Could it be that she was _actually in_ Central City? "Any photo evidence?..."

"No sir."

"Ah...of course not. She's not that sloppy." Roy commented but then smiled and stood. "Good man! I'll be giving you a raise. You can go now."

Havoc sort of sheepishly smiled but then saluted his commanding officer then turned and left.

"Hmhm...Now you're in my territory Scarlet.."The colonel mused as he immediately began preparations for an undercover search. "What crimes are you up to today?..."

...

El groaned as she held her stomach, both arms wrapped around her midsection tightly in a big miserable bear hug. She'd made another trip to a tavern and enjoyed the variety of drinks, it was a tradition. She always tried out new bars and compared them to the ones she'd been to before. Dizzy and drunk she braced herself weakly against a wall, in her mind she knew she'd overdone it, but she couldn't seem to process anything. Nausea crushed her other senses and it took everything to keep from spilling her guts. This wasnt like her, normally she held her liquor much more efficiently. Apparently not today. Out of nowhere her body rejected everything that had been in her stomach, the sickeningly strong stench of alcohol consuming every inch within ten feet of her small body.

"Ghk...sh..shit.." She muttered to herself and fell against the side of a building, once she was down there was no getting back up. Any strength she'd had left fell away when she hit the ground. In a daze she vomited two more times, but the force of her stomach muscles contracting violently made her vision fill with black and white spots and patches. Everything was confusing, the ground was unbalanced, the world danced and blurred in her sight. All she knew at the current moment was misery. A blend of pain, confusion, dizziness, and a kind of exhaustion she wouldn't have been able to explain. Finally, as her breathing became more irregular she slumped against the cold sidewalk and passed out. Her automail shoulder slamming against the wall as she fell over.

The loud thump gained the attention of the shopkeeper from within. An older woman, perhaps in her fifties, curiously opened the door to her establishment and looked around, expecting perhaps to see a dog or something causing mischief. However, when she turned to the right and peered down the side walk and saw the figure of a woman laying on the ground like a murder victim, she rushed to the scene. Dropping to her knees, avoiding the vomit that soaked the area, she used her apron to wipe the young alchemist's face and pulled her up into her arms.

"Hey!" The lady called out loudly and with much authority. "Miss are you okay!?" She yelled again, firmly landing a few slaps to the kids face to try and wake her up. After El didn't respond, and her breathing was obviously very shallow, the woman dashed back to her shop and dialed for emergency help. While she waited for an ambulance to arrive, she pulled off the girl's soiled jacket and as she did, she suddenly realized who she was dealing with. In her panic, she hadn't realized the kids automail arm and leg, nor had she connected the dots in regards to her flaming red jacket.

"Scarlet?" The woman asked her, as if expecting an answer. She couldn't believe she had in her arms one of the most wanted thieves in Amestris. Perhaps there was a reward for this? Feeling immediately guilty she shook her head from the thoughts and took on a more serious look. "Now don't go cursing me when you wake up. I've done my duty, as a woman of God I am required to help those in need. Even if those in need don't particularly deserve it." Again she spoke more or less to herself, defending her actions. It wasn't her intention to see a kid like this be locked up, but the girl had done this to herself and now she would have to take responsibility. As she sat with the alchemist and prepared to start CPR if needed, the distant sound of sirens filled her ears. Her grey hair seemed to take on a few new silver strands as she watched the paramedics arrive, bringing the ambulance to a sudden halt and hopping out quickly.

"Who've we got?" A medic asked as he rushed to her side and knelt down, checking the girl's vital signs while the others pulled out a stretcher.

"I'm not sure. She just collapsed here, clearly intoxicated." She didn't want to make any unnecessary claims if she happened to be wrong. Of course, she was one-hundred percent sure she was, in fact, the bandit that terrorized the country, but that was for them to decide. "Take care of her."

"Okay, thank you ma'am." The man replied while he and three others lifted the unconscious girl into the back of the ambulance.

...

"Where could she be..." Mustang muttered quietly to himself as he observed the map of Central. All the convenient alleyways, the easily accessible rooftops, Central was parkour heaven. It was no mystery that his little con artist was excellent at evading and escaping. He'd once seen her swan dive off of a five-story building, just barely landing in a well, then climb out completely unscathed.

Suddenly the phone rang, ripping him rather rudely from his thoughts.

"Colonel Mustang speaking." He said without thought. "What?" Some time went on while Mustang listened. A look of terror and excitement blooming into his facial features. "You're sure?... Alright, I'll be right down."

"Where is she?" Mustang asked the Nurse. He was business as usual but Riza and Falman could easily see that he was practically on his toes wanting to get at the famous miss Scarlet. What luck, finding her in a hospital? Only minutes from Central headquarters. As he thought this, however, he realized he was actually a bit disappointed. Had she become so careless as to allow herself to get hurt?

"She's resting sir. Back this way." The nurse answered and held the girl's file against her hip.

"I see." He replied. "What happened? Is she injured?"

Riza took a few notes as the woman spoke. Making sure not to miss any details.

"Well sir...shes, unfortunately, suffering alcohol poisoning. Our doctors deduced that she must have drank an incredible amount over the last few hours or so. And even more before that."

Roy was not pleased, he'd been hunting her down for years and she'd always been one step ahead of him, but now she was giving herself up because she hit the bottle too hard? It was too easy, it almost felt like cheating at the game. _Damn kid_ , he thought.

"Anyway, she needs her rest. Criminal or not, here, she is a patient and you'll do well to remember that Colonel."

Roy raised a brow at the stern tone the woman took with an official like him, but part of him respected it. As he was shown to her room, he was a bit surprised by the sight. Inside he was sort of expecting something more amazing. Though before him, he saw nothing more than a child. In her left arm she was fed intravenous fluids, and wore a loosely wrapped blood pressure cuff that the staff used every hour or so, and to fight off the chill of the room she was covered up with a light blue blanket. Perfectly unconscious, and not a threat in the world.

"Sir, should we come back when she's recovered?" Riza asked quietly. Roy sighed and thought it over for a time but finally shook his head. There was no way he was going to let her out of his sight. This was the closest he'd ever been and he was not about to lose her again.

"No, you and I will stay here. When she wakes up she will probably try to make a run for it. The others can fall back and head to headquarters."

With that, the event was over before it began.

 _Two Days Later_

Mustang was sipping on a hot cup of coffee, though to him it was probably the worst brew he'd ever had. He sat down beside the unconscious delinquent. The infamous Scarlet hadn't budged even once since being admitted. Roy allowed himself to be lost in the thoughts that invaded his mind. Who was this girl? What was her motive? She was quite possibly the best thief he'd ever seen, not to mention she could slip out of any restraint or lock. Riza walked in just then, her uniform fresh and ironed.

"Sir, the doctor will be in shortly to take her vitals again." She informed. She wasn't quite sure why this man was so interested in bringing justice down on this kid. There were plenty of other cases that needed to be addressed. Still, if he was this determined to close this case, then she wouldn't get in the way.

"I've been chasing this girl for years Hawkeye. I did my own research into her, there's nothing. I can't find a single thing on her anywhere and no one seems to have any answers. It's like she's a phantom. To see her here right now, it's almost unreal."

"I think you're just upset that she's made a fool of you more than once." The woman teased and took a seat next to her partner.

"What? Don't be ridiculous." He retorted and took another sip of his coffee, each time the heat becoming a little more tolerable.

"Hm. What about the time she made a distress call and half the force showed up at that abandoned building?"

He sighed. "And she'd left that banner..." He grumbled a little at the memory.

Long story short, after rushing full speed into the building, they'd tripped a wire she'd set and were dumped with a water and flour mixture. After they'd found their eyes again, they'd seen the banner that hung ahead of them that read 'You're it". It was juvenile, a silly game with old school pranks.

"You want revenge on her for all the times shes duped you." The woman said with an amused sigh. "So what now? You gonna prosecute her properly or are you gonna handle her yourself?"

"Alright, that's enough Lieutenant." The man warned but chuckled. The woman was one of his best assets and closest friends.

Just then the large metal door opened with a clank and the doctor walked in. He wore a long white coat, tan slacks and a professional blue button-up. His hair was the lightest blonde, and his eyes a crystal blue sea. With him he carried a strong energy, he was confident and a good leader.

"Ah, Colonel. I wasn't sure if you were still here. I can assure you she's quite secure with us." He smiled. "Forgive me, I'm Dr. James Watson. I'm not sure I was properly introduced during the heat of things." With these words, he offered a handshake to Roy who returned the favor.

The three of them fell silent and turned their attention to the patient who was supposedly sound asleep, but watched as her brows furrowed just a little.

"She seems to be waking up." Dr. Watson announced as he promptly put his stethoscope to his ears and placed the plate down onto her chest. The girl breathed a little deeper and seemed to be upset about the mask that rested securely on her face, but unable to react much to it.

"Heart and lungs sound good.." He commented and moved the plate beneath her shirt to listen to various areas of her abdomen. "Sounds good there too.." He said with a sigh of relief. "Thankfully she's young enough the drinking hasn't permanently affected her liver or kidneys. Though it might cause her stomach upset, better avoid it in the future. She was severely dehydrated when they brought her in to me, and she was on the verge of hypothermia."

"M...mom..?" The patient muttered almost inaudibly though soon after she cracked her eyes open just a little, which looked weary from sleep. Weakly, she attempted to find out where she was, still in a bit of a haze.

"Easy now. I'm Dr. Watson, you're in the hospital." The doctor told her as he pressed on her legs in a few specified spots to check for swelling. "Seems you're quite the drinker. Your blood pressure was so low we almost lost you."

"Hospital...?" She managed to whisper, though her voice was hoarse and weak. Regaining her strength, albeit slowly, she attempted to sit up. As she tried to pull herself up, however, the doctor placed a firm hand to her chest and slowly caused her to lie back down giving her a look that clearly said 'no'.

During this time, the Colonel and Lieutenant stayed quiet, simply observing.

"M..My head.." She moaned as she grimaced, bringing a heavy hand slowly to her skull. It felt strange to lift her arm, to move. Her own touch seemed foreign to her, like she'd been in stasis for the last millennia.

"I'll go get you some pain medication. Sit tight I'll be right back." Watson explained and then stood from his chair and left the room. For about five minutes, Eloise stayed still, slowly gathering more of her own awareness.

"..l..like hell..." She mustered up and looked down at her arms, delicately removing her I.V' and her oxygen mask. Though she was incredibly sore and a bit off balance from being in bed for so long she was surprisingly fluid in her movements.

"Hey, hey, hey!.." Mustang scolded and jumped from his seat, taking hold of her arms and forcing her to be still. Scarlet froze, a look of pure terror on her young features. She then realized what was going on. She'd lost this round of the game, they had her.

"M..Mustang...?" She whispered a bit under her breath. Something like fear accented her tone, which didn't upset Roy in the slightest.

"That's Colonel Mustang.." He corrected firmly. "That's right, I've got you. You won't be going anywhere except for with me, but that won't be until you get clearance from the doctor."

Immediately she swung her arm down to create an automail blade, but she couldn't quite move fast enough, Roy captured her arms again. The action made her feel even more weak, more tired. She breathed heavily as if she'd just lept from the bed.

"Don't try it." He said authoritatively. "There's no sense in fighting right now. You're sick..."

The doctor walked back in at that moment and was a bit shocked and disappointed to see the two in their current state.

"Alright, that's enough. Child you need to relax." He ordered, bringing in a large round pill and a cup of water. Roy was a bit leery of letting her go, considering this kid somehow used alchemy without transmutation circles.

"Come on, settle down. You're safe here." The doctor affirmed and gave Roy a bit of a stern look. As the teen slowly relaxed her body and lowered her arms, the Colonel let go and found his place back in the seat near Riza who was watching very closely, a hand just shy of her pistol just in case.

"Now. What is your name?" The doctor asked. Roy perked up at this bit. In all of his years, he hadn't found her true identity. El just smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Really. Don't you know who I am? I'm rather famous you know." She mused though her vocal cords were still rough and raspy, her golden eyes shimmered a little in the bright ceiling lights.

"This isn't a game girl." Watson was more firm this time. A dangerous tone laced his normally passive ones. Roy was surprised at how quickly this man could go from kind and collected to strict and rigid.

"Oh alright." She said and sighed heavily. "Well lets see...there's Scarlet..um...The Child of Sin...The Red Phantom...um...I've been named a lot..it goes on for a while you might want a bigger notepad."

The doctors face seemed to drop, he wasn't nearly as amused by this as his patient was. "Alright, you don't want to cooperate. I understand." As he said this he moved aside and a pair of large, muscular men walked in carrying a straight jacket.

"Woah, you're putting her in a ward?" Roy spoke up, sounding a touch defensive.

"Do you see that automail arm of hers?" The doctor pointed out. "That weapon hospitalized my brother four years ago, who also happens to be an alchemist. I don't have enough knowledge in automail mechanics, I could destroy her nerve endings if I tried to remove them. She doesn't want to cooperate, so she will be placed in one of these while she is deemed a threat." With those sentencing words, the man turned around and picked up a needle with an unknown substance inside, then moved closer. "Now." His attention was back to her now. "If you try to refuse or cause trouble, I will have no choice but to put you to sleep. Do you understand?"

El sat back further on the bed, analyzing the room carefully. Though her nausea was making a horrible comeback she lept to her feet, at first extremely unsteady but in defiance of her body's protests, she forced herself to remain upright. In a flash of blinding blue light, her arm transformed into a dangerous looking blade. A look in her eyes that even Mustang had never seen before, like deep pools of swirling fire. The doctor took a careful step back and raised his hands to show her he wasn't moving.

"There's one thing you should know about me.." She warned and kept her blade raised, doing her best to dismiss the vertigo that was flooding her head. "I hate doctors.." Pause. "And I _hate_ needles. Coming at me with one is a sure way to get yourself killed." Feeling tension and pain in her arms, she looked down and saw the I.V's were stressed. Though it made her extremely squeamish, she pulled the tape off and took them out, then gave a quick shudder. Riza had her gun pointed directly at the panicked patient, assuming she wouldn't have to fire, but prepared nevertheless.

"Alright, alright." Mustang slowly moved closer to the assistants and opened the door, ushering them out. "No one is gonna do anything. Tell you what, you come with me quietly, and you won't have to worry about them anymore."

The girl's eyes remained fixed on the doctor, but they shifted to the man in blue who was obviously trying to diffuse the situation and potentially prevent any loss of life. If doctors made her this nervous, then perhaps she would cooperate. Taking going with him as the lesser of two evils. It was worth a shot. Standing was proving difficult, El was beyond dizzy and for a moment gripped the bed rail with her flesh hand to steady herself. She breathed faster as her body screamed to lie back down, she was simply too worn out to go through a battle, and she knew it. After another minute of suffering, a deep blush found its way to her cheeks as she looked to Roy, with a sort of pleading essence about them.

"You swear?"She asked in a higher pitched voice.

"You have my word." He responded firmly but with a gentleness that she didn't think he was capable of. "On one condition, you have to put your weapon away."

Immediately feeling like this was some sort of trap, she growled and looked down, shielding her eyes from the artificial light that stung them so. The group watched intently as the alchemist cautiously, and tenderly crept along the side of the bed, never taking her eyes off the doctor. Mustang grew tense and watched her with unfaltering precision as she approached him, blade still in hand. Though when she came closer, the same electric flash of light zapped around her arm and her automail was once again a hand and wrist. Suddenly she became so dizzy that she lost her balance and fell directly into the man, who caught her without a hitch. Having her in his arms was...strange. She was so small, so tired. This was not the Scarlet he knew. While she was leaning against him, he hoisted her up into his arms bridal style, her hospital gown bunching up around her midsection. It seemed a little silly, seeing the famous con artist slash thief curled up in his arms, wearing a white and mint green striped nightshirt.

"Wh..what are you doing?" She whined. "Put me down! I..I can walk just fine!"

Roy simply ignored her, but suddenly tightened his hold on her. "Relax." He hushed, still his typical serious self, but there was something else that slipped by everyone but Riza. She looked to him curiously, he was acting a little different than usual. He treated this criminal like she, belonged to him. Was his obsession a little too strong these days? She wondered but sighed and drove the thoughts away, taking the needle from the doctor and taking a stance beside her commanding officer. The man held Scarlet in such a way that she couldn't see behind her, this was when Hawkeye injected the sedative into the girls left upper arm. The sudden pinch caused Scarlet to squeak a panicked whimper.

"W..wait, you gave your word!" She girl argued but found Roy's arms comforting, she was close enough to absorb his heat and take in the subtle hint of cologne on his collar. Though she had initially tried to escape his hold, she now simply rested in his security. The drug calming her mind, but she'd accepted for now that it would be best for her to just make her escape later, when she felt better.

"I did. I promised you wouldn't have to worry about _them_." He replied and tilted his head back towards the doctor and his assistants.

The hospital staff watched as the military duo carried El out the large hospital doors and into the cold weather outside. Though it was only the beginning of October, the sky was littering the ground with tiny white snowflakes.


	2. Chapter 2

Once back at central command Roy had his personal team keep an eye on the sleeping girl while he went over the medical file he'd received from the hospital, it was the first and only solid information he had on her. It was relieving to have some hardcore proof that this kid even existed. He thumbed through each page, highlighting any important details. Ones like the fact that she apparently was most likely in her early to mid-twenties rather than a teenager like he had originally thought.

He had spent so much time on this case that he worried a little perhaps he had wasted too much time on it. There were many other things he needed to take care of and really it wasn't even his job to do this sort of thing. Still, he had her now, and he planned to question her as soon as she woke up and was able. With a sigh, the man set the file down on the desk before him, almost sad to have completed his hunt. For her crimes, she technically wasn't safe from any inch of the law, and as long as he wore his uniform he had a duty to deal with her with such laws in mind.

Feeling a little put off by the whole thing, he stood from his seat and left the room to check on the girl. She had been asleep for several hours and was due to wake up anytime now.

The prison floor was cooler than usual, no doubt the result of the more wintery weather that had blown into the region. As he walked by he expertly ignored the glares and curses that were thrown his way by the other inmates. It was true, he'd put at least half of them there himself. The Colonel walked silently down the stone halls, not a sound but the light quips that echoed about from his boots each time they made contact with the floor. Finally, after two more turns, he found himself standing before her cell. It was darker than usual in this corner of the building, there were fewer windows to allow the minute amounts of sunlight through. He stood still, an aura of tension and authority swimming around the area. Coal black eyes stared in through the bars, their gaze resting on the figure of a young woman. Her hair was a bit messy, and she faced away from the cell door; nothing to accompany her but the cot.

"Scarlet." He stated. The girl's shoulders seemed to fall at being addressed. He wasn't used to her like this, something was different. She wasn't her average 'let me show you how these locks actually work' self right now. Unless, ah, so that's what it was. "You've never been held here have you."

No response.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now that alchemy doesn't work in this particular cell."

"Go away." She commented under her breath. Like a wounded animal she turned and gave him the coldest of glares. Like he'd delivered a bullet to her already damaged body but refused to finish her off.

"I designed it just for you. In fact, thanks to you, the rest of these cells will all be demolished and rebuilt using the same material and technology."

"You damn idiot." She growled. "I don't need alchemy to get out of here."

He paused for a moment, considering her words as she stood and made her way lazily to the door. Without being able to see if she held anything in her hands, he watched as she simply unlocked the door and pushed it open. In an instant, Roy was ready for a fight but furrowed his brows as the girl went quietly back to the bed. The man just didn't understand what her deal was. Was she this upset that he'd caught her? Was it all just a fit?

Curiosity drove him to walk into her cell and stand directly in front of her knowing that at any moment she could attack him.

"You know, I've never been caught in a way that I couldn't escape." She began, her voice was small and brittle. "Until today."

Mustang kept his eyes focused on her as he tried to figure out just what she meant. It was then that she looked up at him, and at this angle he could see a thin metal band that wrapped around her neck, an alchemic circle etched into its surface. He had no idea what this was, or who had issued it to her.

"Ah, Colonel Mustang!" A boisterous voice announced, briefly startling the Colonel.

"Uh...Fuhrer Bradley." He stuttered and bowed to his superior.

"Oh, none of that Roy." The man chuckled. "I see you've come to check in on our newest addition."

Roy turned his attention back to the girl who refused to make eye contact with any of them.

"Get anything out of her?" King asked.

"No sir. I've not had a chance to interrogate just yet."

The older man seemed to ponder this but then nodded.

"Yes, she's quite the troublemaker. I've had my team of engineers working on that collar she's wearing for four years now. Finally finished it and even had a worthy subject to try it out on."

"Sir?"

"Well, care to elaborate miss Scarlet? You've caused enough mischief to earn it I think." Bradley suggested and stood perfectly still with his hands folded behind his back. At this moment the girl erupted from her seat knocking the bed over and pressed her left hand on his throat, her automail opposite balled into a fist and ready to plunge into his face. Roy who didn't have enough time to react froze as the famous miss Scarlet did as well. He wasn't sure why the sudden stop until he realized a potentially fatal detail. There against her throat, was the thin blade of the Fuhrer's sword. It pressed tightly against her flesh just hard enough to leave a paper thin cut. He hadn't even seen him move, not even a fraction of an inch, yet there it was.

"Now, now." Bradley warned. "It would be wise to behave yourself. No sense in getting hurt right?"

The Elric girl very slowly released her grip from his neck and lowered her hands, gently backing up with the aid of his blade.

"The collar she wears prevents her from using her alchemy at all." The older man began to explain. "It has no lock, so she can't use her incredible skills to take it off. Only an alchemist can remove it."

Roy was impressed, this type of equipment was top of the line, and would be a huge asset in the security of prisoners and the safety of officers. Still, he had never seen anyone so easily overpower the girl before. She was flawless, fluid in motion, and a shinobi on her feet. Yet, with a single device and the single swing of a sword, he subdued this girl with little to no effort.

"Well Colonel. She's all yours. Let me know when the report is done and we will go from there."

"Yes sir." Mustang replied respectfully and watched the man leave without another word.

He then took the Elric girl by the arms, pulling them behind her back and cuffing them securely. For once, she didn't seem to care and without protest allowed herself to be taken away.

The room was quiet other than the faint hum of a ceiling fan. The walls an unfriendly white, the footboards a natural deep wood. Before her stood Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Maes Hughes. So far she hadn't said a single word. For two hours, nothing had worked. They needed answers, if they didn't get them, she would be handed over to a different team given the task of twisting her arm in various ways to get what they wanted. However, she was his case, and he wasn't about to just give her up to someone else.

"Scarlet isn't your real name." The Colonel stated plainly, taking a seat and leaning forward, folding his fingers together and resting them neatly on the surface of the desk.

"Brilliant deduction Colonel." Scarlet cheered as if to a small child. Roy's eye fought off an irritated twitch as he took a deep breath. Right as he was about to implement his own skills of persuasion the door to the room burst open with violent force. Hawkeye instantly drew her pistol and had the barrel aimed directly at the noisy intruder.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Bellowed the voice of a young man. He wore his short, golden-blonde hair up in a ponytail, strands here and there falling loosely. He was a sturdy fellow with an athletic build. He looked as though he'd traveled quite the distance. With a grey tank top, a pair of khaki capris and a pair of brown engineers boots, he was hard to miss.

Like being dumped with ice water, Scarlet jolted from her seat nearly stumbling into the interrogation desk.

"Wyn!" She countered and attempted to act cool, though inside she was highly unsettled.

"Sir you can't be in here!" Riza commanded gun still at the ready. Wyn turned his attention to her and gave her a rather puzzled and accusing look.

"Like hell I can't, I've been looking for this brat for forever!" He exclaimed and turned his fiery gaze back to the young woman in question. "Finally! I find you! And how do I do it? An old bar keep on the edge of town who say's you were most likely arrested? What's with these wanted posters?! You said you were studying to be a state alchemist!"

"What?" Roy interjected with disbelief. What kind of story was this guy led to believe?

"What are you talking about?" Riza copied and looked to him as if for answers, lowering her gun just a little.

"Don't believe this man I've never seen him a day in my life." Scarlet objected and attempted to ignore his presence. Wyn's jaw dropped as he gave her an incredulous scowl and no more than two seconds later she was whimpering and protesting as he clamped his fingers onto her left ear and forced her to look him in the eye.

"What exactly are you doing in handcuffs Ellie?"

"Ellie?" Roy again questioned, Riza took notes as she caught them and continued to listen in. Things were heating up quickly, and it would be easy to miss important details. They realized that because this boy apparently didn't know of her 'adventurous' life, he would probably end up giving up information without knowing it.

"NO! No, no don't listen to him he's crazy he-ai! ow, ow! let go!" The Fullmetal alchemist yelped, practically dancing on her toes, but finally, like a gift from the heavens the grip on her ear was released. Immediately she threw her flesh hand to her ear and tried her best to rub out the throbbing and pain.

"Aw El...What did you do to my automail?" The man complained as he spun her around to better see her arm. "This is dangerous, this piece here is totally broken off. Where is the plate? This pivot is all messed up too. Please tell me you haven't been trying to transmute this thing in its condition?"

"Alright listen up kids, here's whats gonna happen. You're both gonna sit here and answer each of my questions or I'll lock you both up for the next six months." Roy thundered dangerously, pulling out a fresh piece of paper and preparing to take his own notes. A moment of tense silence went by as the group of people got ready for a fullout interrogation. The young con artist fidgeted in her seat and attempted to get out of her cuffs, but at this angle her automail couldn't function properly due to damages, so she couldn't use her fingers. Wyn glared at her the way a very irritated big brother would and mouthed the words 'you're dead'. Of course, the girl just glared and mouthed the words 'piss off'.

"Now, you. Name." Roy demanded as he pointed his pen at the young man before him. For once in her life, El was quite jittery. Knowing that she had two stories going on here, it was gonna be hard to keep Wyn from selling her out without knowing it.

"Wyn Rockbell."

He listened as the sound of a pen scratching and tapping along paper filled the room.

"What's your relation to this girl?"

Hughes stood by, curious to what all was happening. He hadn't seen Roy this serious in a while. If he knew the man at all, he knew that at this moment he was ready to do anything to get the answers he wanted. Still, seeing the young alchemist on the spot like this caused a feeling of pity to bubble up within him. The way she nervously shifted in her seat, the way she avoided eye contact, the way she seemed to sink further into her seat with each question. It reminded him of Elicia when she was being scolded. Though Scarlet was much older than his little girl, they still shared the same behaviors when in trouble. He huffed a brief laugh and forced himself to dismiss the thoughts, he was an officer and had to remember that, keeping his personal feelings out of the question. Still, he wouldn't admit that it was a hard thing to do.

"Oh, I'm her automail mechanic. I designed her arm and leg, which she _seems_ to _enjoy_ destroying so much..."

He gave his friend a rather grumpy side glare but then turned his attention back to the officials before him. Finding it more important to have information on her, Mustang changed direction.

"You." Roy began and focused his attention on his criminal pet, who visually puffed herself up to give herself more confidence and a _screw you_ sort of way.

"What is your _real_ name?

"I don't have one."

The man glared but then smirked. "You think this is a game? If you don't answer me truthfully I'll lock him up along with you, indefinitely." He warned.

"You're bluffing."

This time there was no smirk and no hint that he was enjoying himself.

"Try me."

Five full minutes went by as the two seemed to silently battle each other. The intensity within the small room could have been felt from outside in the hallway, never letting up for even a moment. Just then Roy snapped and Riza and Hughes moved to Wyn and forced him to stand by taking him by the arms and pulling them behind his back, handcuffing him.

"Uh, h..hey!" The boy argued and turned his eyes to El who caught the look of hurt betrayal within them.

"Wait!" Scarlet shouted and took on a fiery glare. "...fine, just leave him the hell alone."

With this new move, the Colonel lifted his chin slightly to signal Wyn's release, and release him they did. The mechanic rubbed his wrists and took a seat once more beside his friend. Not quite sure if he was more worried or more angry with the whole situation and her stubbornness.

"Well?" Roy pressed in a very serious tone. He wasn't willing to screw around anymore. It was all or nothing this time.

"Its.." Pause. She sighed in utter defeat and grimaced at the carpeted floor. "Eloise Elric."

"Elric?..." Surprise weaved through the Colonel's voice as he rolled the name around in his head. Why did that name sound so familiar?

"Sir." Hughes began and then leaned down to whisper into his friend's ear. A look of shock flashed across his superior's face.

"Do you, live in Risembool?" El raised her golden eyes to meet his. A defeated and angry energy flowed off of her as she was forced to reveal her deepest secrets. Wyn's expression softened to that of sympathy and pity. He knew she hated having to talk about her past, and here she was, telling it to complete strangers.

"No." She answered shortly as if he were stupid. "I used to live in Risembool. I live wherever the road takes me now."

"That's impossible.."Roy rejected as he shook his head and sat back, taking a deeper breath and trying to gather his thoughts. "I was on the team that responded to that incident. The DNA we gathered belonged to only boys. The Elric boys were killed that night."

"No Colonel." She retorted with exasperation. "Strange things can happen when using alchemy, you should know this."

"Ellie..." Wyn attempted but was immediately shot down.

"No, Wyn. It's fine. There's not much else I can do now." She admitted and sat up taller. "When I was eleven years old, my mother died. My brother and I felt she didn't deserve it, that her time was cut short." She began. "So, we tried to bring her back. We didn't mean for it to go the way it did. We had everything, down to the last grain of salt."

"You idiot. You actually tried human transmutation?"

"I was eleven Mustang! I was a little girl and I was broken. I didn't know that it was anything bad, don't you _dare_ try and tell me I'm stupid for it! I know I am, I have to _live_ with this. Not only did I fail in bringing her back but I lost my little brother too." Her words were sharp and dangerous now, but before she could look away fast enough, Roy caught sight of the tears that threatened to spill over.

"How old are you Eloise?" He continued. The accused simply couldn't find it normal hearing her actual name, she hadn't used it in so long that it seemed very foreign. She didn't want to go through this, her soul ached and yearned to get out of that room. She'd never been unable to escape, unable to find witty remarks and then back them up with her skill, but here she was. Completely in their hands and at their mercy.

"Kid." He cautioned her, and gave her a challenging look. She never knew how threatening this guy could be, she'd never been in his grasp before. Once she got out of this situation she would remember to steer clear of him as far as possible. The man tapped his pen against the desk top to urge her to hurry it up.

"24"

With her answer, Hughes and Riza both were speculative, but Roy dismissed them and seemed to believe it. His reasoning of course being that unlike them, he had looked over her medical review and talked to her doctor. Hughes looked on at the girl and just couldn't believe it, she looked maybe seventeen at the oldest. A few minutes of quiet went by as the man jotted down some very important notes and then pulled out a folder, two inches thick and dropped it onto the tabletop.

"Gonna try to find my case? Why don't you save your energy? I'm right here."

Roy raised his eyes and gave her a peculiar look. "Find your case? This _is_ your case. This whole thing." With these words, her lips parted partially and she sheepishly looked away, somewhat afraid of the amount of trouble she was actually in.

"What?" Wyn questioned with more than a hint of worry.

"That's right Wyn. Your friend here has been on our hot list for six years. For six years I've been trying to hunt her down. She's a con and a famous thief."

"Eloise!" The boy growled, causing the thief in question to jump.

"Now, I think you should be locked up for good. However." Roy paused. "The Fuhrer seems to think that if I train you properly you could be a valuable asset to the team. So I'm giving you a choice." He started. The girl looked up and waited for her sentence. "You can either go to prison for..." He stopped a brief moment as he looked over a paper that she couldn't see clearly. "The next 20 years plus 16 more, or.." He continued. "You can become my subordinate and train under me. You'll wear that anti-alchemy collar at all times, and you'll be given strict rules and assignments. It's up to you."

"Prison." She responded without putting any real thought down and closed her eyes stubbornly.

"Ellie!" The mechanic snapped and quite roughly smacked her upside the head causing her to yelp.

"Nnng..." She glared and blinked the sparkles from her eyes. "Alright. I'll..." She stopped short and grit her teeth together, she hated that she was in this position. Having to suck up to her enemy. "I'll work for you."

"Good, then I'll let everyone know." The man smirked and closed her file back up, handing it to Hughes. "Because of your agreement, you will obey my orders and allow my men to escort you to your new room."

"New room?" She wondered and stood to her feet. Her shoulders were becoming quite stiff from being pinned behind her back for so long. What she hadn't revealed through this whole thing was that she'd been adjusting her automail wrist and had managed to tighten up one of the pins just enough to give three of her fingers mobility again.

"Don't get too excited. It's a dorm, but it's under lockdown as long as you're inside." The Colonel began to explain as he approached her. "And you'll have guards posted."

She pouted for a moment in contempt and rolled her eyes. Like an animal in a kennel, she was going to hate this.

"Let's go." Hughes ordered, though he had a hard time sounding serious, he sort of spoke to her the way he did to his daughter when she wasn't behaving. El just scoffed and turned to walk with them, but not before handing Hughes her handcuffs. It felt great to have them off, she rubbed the marks that had been pressed into her left wrist. Immediately Roy took her by the collar of her jacket and sighed, highly unamused.

"None of that. If I have you in cuffs, you stay in cuffs." He ordered and signaled for Hughe's to put them back on.

"But-"

"No. Follow orders." His voice was stern and didn't leave much room for argument. The tension in the room began to rise again, and Wyn was just a bit worried about his friend. She was gonna get herself hurt for sure.

"Tsk...you're not-"

"Keep pushing kid..." He threatened, this time his eyes lowered to a glare and she was compelled to kick him in the jewels.

"Aw, come on! If I can just take them off then what's the point? They're uncomf-" She complained, but was promptly cut off. The officer looked down at her with warning eyes, a look that made her feel a bit pressured. At that moment, he knelt down a bit and put himself face to face with her, close enough for her to smell his cologne and feel just a bit nervous.

"Good. Maybe you'll learn. Leave them on or there's gonna be a problem."

Practically growling the young alchemist fought every inch of her inner beast. No one talked down to her like that, no one. The air was thick around them for what seemed like forever, that was until she finally closed her eyes and let out a sigh of defeat. There was no sense in fighting right now, not if she wanted to get to bed in one piece. Roy seemed content with this and stood back up, watching as Hughes replaced her handcuffs. No one said a word once they began making their way up the halls, the energy about them a mix of authority and anarchy. They walked for close to three minutes before they stopped at a door. Roy removed one of his gloves and used an alchemic action to unlock the door. At that point only Roy and El continued, Wyn was taken away for further questioning before being released.

"This is it. You'll be living here for the foreseeable future. Inspections are once a month, keep it clean and don't get into trouble. Understood?"

She didn't reply but just rolled her eyes again. In that instant, Mustang snapped his fingers and a quick spark lit up right in front of her face, startling her and causing her to jump.

"Understood..?" He asked again, keeping his fingers pressed together to let her know he meant business.

"Yes." The alchemist responded curtly and with a glare for added effect. Of course, her new boss was not taking it.

"Yes what."

The girl clenched her teeth together and looked away. This guy wasn't pulling any punches with her, and she decided the need to get out of here was even more dire than she'd thought. At her blatant defiance, he just kept his onyx stare and snapped his fingers, lighting a spark beside her ear, making her jump again this time with a bit of a yip.

"Tch! You jerk you can't just light fires wherever you want." She protested. "That hurt."

"Yes what?" He asked again, this time with a calmer authority. She was stubborn, but he was sure he could tame her, it would just take time and patience.

Again she glowered but this time her head hung lower, like a dog who'd been swatted with a newspaper roll. The man gave her a speculative look and raised his hand again as if to snap.

"O...Okay." She quipped. This was all just a game of crush the pride but she would survive it. "Yes Sir." She finally answered properly, though she blushed and wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off the man's face.

"Good." He said and then moved towards her to remove the cuffs. "Get some rest, tomorrow may be an early start for you." He explained briefly and walked away, carrying the device with him. "Everything you need will already be in here. Breakfast is at 8 we will have someone escort you to the cafeteria. Remember, behave yourself."

With that, the door closed, and she was alone. It wasn't so bad, except the guy was annoying as hell. This place was nice. Nicer than anywhere she'd stayed previously in recent years. At the current moment, she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a comfy bed in a warm room, and that's exactly what she did.


	3. Chapter 3

All through the night El tossed and turned. She muttered, cried, and kicked in her sleep. The nightmares had decided to show up again, they'd taken a break from their torture for about a month, but now they showed their ugly teeth once more. The theme was always the same, sure a few differences here and there but it always revolved around one thing. Human transmutation. As if the universe wanted to tell her that she would never atone for her sins, that she would always be cursed. This evil thing she did would forever brand her like an unsightly scar. The dreams were horrible, disfigured humanoid monsters erupting from transmutation circles all of them screaming at her, then dragging her down into the circle and into the abyss. Each time she kept going under, drowning in the guilt and shame of her past.

"N..No.." She whimpered in her sleep, trapped in the void of her own mind. "A..Alphonse..."

Her brother towered over her as she was crippled on the rain-soaked ground below her. A look of disgust and disappointment on his young features. They were both their younger selves, the same age they were the night it all happened. In his hand he held the head of the suit of armor she'd tried to preserve his soul inside. For a few moments he'd woken up in the suit, bonded with its armor plates, but it soon faded and he was lost to eternity. His expression became blank now as he turned away from her, without a word he left.

"Alphonse!" She cried within her dream. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I tried! Please..." Her voice weakened as she began to sob, her tears landed in small plips on her still present hand which supported her on the ground. "Please, don't go.."

Then the worst part, as he left, she watched as her mother appeared from the shadows and took his hand. Trisha glanced back at her as if she'd never known her daughter, like she was a complete stranger and one with no value to her. Together her only remaining family left through the rain and walked on into darkness before disappearing. Leaving Ellie alone in the dark, sitting in her own puddles of blood.

"Mom!" The child wailed and plunged into hiccups from her sobs. A gurgling growl crept up behind her, and as she looked she saw the beast who'd appeared during their attempt to bring their mother back. The monster reached for her, arms steaming and dripping a black substance. "No! NO! Let go! It wasn't supposed to be you! No!"

While she screamed violently for her life, the creature grabbed ahold of her remaining leg and began to drag her further into the night through the dirt and mud. Clawing at the ground in desperation Ellie was taken away. Her blood mixing with the rainwater and muck. The creature turned to look at her and opened its mouth as if to consume her and she screamed.

"AHH NO!" She called out and erupted from her blankets, finding her legs tangled up in top sheet. Breathing heavily, she coughed and whimpered as she forced herself out of the bed and onto her feet which proved unstable. With a loud thud she fell to the floor, knocking over the chair to her desk. Weakly the young alchemist pulled herself far enough to lean against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. With deadly tight grip her clammy left hand latched onto her shirt, as if to try and help her breathe.

The door to her apartment opened with a light clatter, and her guard rushed in. Havoc quickly searched for her, having heard her scream bloody murder he was sure something horrible had happened. As he rounded the corner to her room he saw her leaned up against the wall where it met the floor. Tears streaming down her cheeks and whimpering quietly to herself. Slowly he knelt down, visually checking her for any injuries, which he didn't find.

"Hey, you okay kid?" He asked gently in a soft voice. With only the glow from the street lamps outside lighting her room, she panicked. She hadn't noticed him come in while she was recovering from the horror of the dream she'd just survived. In an instant that he didn't have time to react to, she screamed out again and lifted her automail foot, sending it into his chest as hard as she could. The man grunted and was launched backwards, smashing his back and head on the desk beside her bed.

"It was an accident! I just wanted her back!" The young girl bellowed and stood to her feet, picking up the lamp that was knocked over and preparing to smash him in the head with its iron base.

"Kid! Kid it's me!" He shouted and raised his hands to defend himself. Just as she swung her arm, he lept up, taking hold of the lamp and throwing it aside while simultaneously tackling her to the ground. He wasn't sure why she was panicking but he knew he needed to get her to calm down before she got them both seriously hurt. At being pinned to the floor, the images from her nightmare came to the front of her mind and she struggled harder than ever before to get away.

"No! No! No! Please!"

"Shit.." He cursed and let go of her, dashing over to the opposite side of the room and slamming his hand against the light switch, flipping it up. Like a sudden plunge into ice cold water, the light flooded their senses, jolting Eloise from her confusion. She breathed hard and brought her hand up to protect it from the intense contrast, falling back against the wall once again. The two of them stayed quiet for a time, one another sort of just grounding themselves and being sure that things were safe now.

Finding that she wasn't planning on attacking him he stepped into the living room and called for backup.

"Eloise?" He asked in a low voice when he went back to her room. She was still sitting against the wall, but refused to talk to him. "Are you alright?"

Nothing. Other than the occasional sound of her sniffling, but when he looked closer he saw that she was trembling.

"Was..was it a bad dream?" He continued. Still nothing. "You don't have to be embarrassed if it was, I'm here to listen."

Silence.

At that moment Roy rushed in, out of breath and a bit disheveled. Seeing Havoc quietly standing in the doorway of the girl's room, he became a little confused.

"You said there was an emergency..?" The Colonel asked a bit unsure. He stood near his friend and looked over to the young woman who's tiny frame huddled against the wall near a corner.

"Come talk with me.." Havoc instructed and the two went out into the front room, where everything was explained to Roy.

"You guys gonna leave anytime soon so I can go back to sleep?" El asked from behind them after emerging from her room. "I'm fine. Please go, its three in the morning."

"Now hold on just a minute." Roy said gently and considered if there was anything he should do.

"I really would rather not. Please go." She asked again, this time with a little more attitude.

Roy raised a brow and gave her a look that disapproved of whatever she was doing. "I said to wait a minute. As far as I've heard you weren't fine just before I got here and I would like to talk about it."

"Well I don't." She retorted and glared heavily. The tear stains on her face were still visible and her eyes and nose were a puffy, swollen pink color.

"Easy." Havoc reassured and tried to approach her to rest a soothing hand on her shoulder but she just growled.

"I said LEAVE!" The girl shouted, adding quite a bit more tension in the already turbulent energy of the room. At that moment Roy sighed and raised a gloved hand as if to snap, immediately El blinked a few times and just looked away with a glare in what appeared to be submission.

"We only want to help. If you need us, you know where to look. Let's go." Roy spoke and gestured for Havoc to follow him, leading him back to his post. The two of them walked out and closed the door, locking it behind them.

"Sir, she was violent. I don't think she was fully awake. I can't explain fully how intense it all was."

Roy just nodded and looked to the floor as if searching for answers. "Keep an eye on her Jean."

His subordinate nodded and watched the man walk away, a more serious tone in his step.

The next morning was chaos. Alarms going off in every direction possible, soldiers rushing up and down the halls, and why? Because the young Scarlett was missing. Early that morning Breda had come to take shift guarding her door, and when they went inside to check they found she'd managed to take the bars off of her window. No one could figure out how, not even the guy who'd put them there.

"She's dead when I find her!" Mustang shouted and slammed a fist down onto his desk. "Uhggg...that girl just doesn't learn."

A faint, airy laughter sang out beside him and he looked over to see Riza. She was smiling amusedly, stacking some papers and putting paper clips on their edges.

"You know sir, if I could speak freely, you should have expected something like this. She's called the Red Phantom after all. Hmhm."

"Well I'm glad _you're_ enjoying yourself." He snipped and turned to look out the window. The woman just sighed and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find her. She can't get far without the use of her alchemy."

The colonel combed a weary hand through his soot black hair and nodded ever so slightly.

In the city, Eloise was quite enjoying herself. Despite her inability to use alchemy, she was causing more than enough trouble.

"Thank you!" She chimed in as she held a lollipop in one hand and a new pair of black boots in the other. She hadn't spent that much, just enough to enjoy her morning. So far she'd bought a roughly twenty-five dollar breakfast at one of the cafe's, visited a fortune teller who promised wealth and prosperity then made off with seventeen more dollars, and a lollipop. Not a bad way to spend the sunrise,even though it was quite chilly out. How had she paid for it all you might wonder? Well, anyone carrying a state Alchemists pocket watch could technically run the bill to the government, it didn't matter if it was hers or not, and that's exactly what she did.

Finally satisfied, the young con made her way across the city towards headquarters. She was sure she would get an earful from Mustang, but it was worth it. Those doughnuts that came with her breakfast had been to die for. Forty minutes or so went by before she found herself on the steps of the building, though she saw people rushing about she wasn't sure why. No one really seemed to recognize her. That was when she realized she'd forgotten her infamous red coat. She literally never took it off, except for when she slept. Could it be that the people who hadn't officially met her yet just didn't know it was her? She found this highly entertaining. Still nomming on her candy, she walked casually in through the large doors. The energy in here was tense, that was for sure.

"That doesn't make sense. They were bolted from here and here." Roy explained frustratedly as he jabbed his finger down onto a diagram of the window in his little criminal's room. He and the architect were discussing possible ways she could have possibly escaped.

Ellie walked casually in through the open door and waited a time before speaking. They didn't even notice her walk in, she could have stood there all day for all she knew, so she made her way up behind them and peeked between their figures to see what they were looking at.

"Maybe she found a way to-..no, that doesn't add up either."

"That's because I didn't break anything, all hardware is created a certain way and can always be taken apart if you know how to do it." Ellie informed and again stuck the colorful lollipop into her mouth. Like a venomous snake ready to strike, Roy twisted around on his heal and looked down at her with a look of complete disbelief.

"Eloise! How long have you been here!?" The man exploded, she actually startled under his tone and took a step back. She didn't expect him to be this angry, she came back right? He should be happy for goodness sake. Feeling that she was way too close for comfort she made to run, but a grip like steel clutched onto her collar. "Not so fast kid."

"Hand it over." Roy growled like a demon. He held out a calloused hand and kept a firm grip on her with the other.

"I dont know what you mean!"

"Don't play dumb! So help me I will lock you in solitary confinement for a month! Hand it over or I'm handing _you_ over to cell 73B!"

She remembered the cold prison cell she'd been held in and it pissed her off that he was threatening her, but she hated the idea of going behind bars even more. Reluctantly she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the man's state watch. Like a viper he snatched it out of her hand and shoved it back into his jacket pocket. He had no idea when she'd lifted it off of him, truly a phantom she was, a ghost. Perhaps that would be her new pet name.

"Now where the hell did you go?" His tone ice cold.

"Let go! Come on I came back didn't I?" She protested.

"Came back!? You weren't permitted to leave your room let alone the building!" He countered right back, but his voice was much louder than hers. "Damn it, you just want to be locked up for life don't you." He scolded and refused to let go, causing her to be trapped right next to him, painfully close.

"Do it! I don't care." Ellie growled back and tried to escape.

"No! You would be winning if I did that. No..." He sighed and looked away from her to think. "You're acting like a child. Isn't your situation serious to you? You realize you will probably be in police custody of some kind or another for the rest of your life right? You think I want to babysit you for that long!?"

"Piss off! I just want to have a little fun!"

"You don't get to have fun you should be in prison!"

"Gaaahh!" She complained and tried to get away before finally giving up and just standing there with the king of pouts plastered on her young features. "So what're you gonna do Colonel? Stick me in handcuffs? You know I can get out of anything right?"

"Heh, not everything." The man smirked and gave an extra tug on the collar around her neck, causing Ellie to curse under her breath. "Alright." He said more or less to himself as he all but dragged the girl across the room and then turned her to face him. "As crazy as this may sound, you're gonna stand here in this corner until I say otherwise so I can keep an eye on you. I have too much to do right now to worry about you causing trouble."

The girl at first stared at him wide-eyed with a look of complete confusion, her golden eyes shimmering with what was almost anger. Was he insulting her?

"You're joking right?" She laughed and searched for any hint that he was just pulling her leg. Though sure as hell, he pulled her closer to the wall and then spun her around and stuffed her nose into the corner. The angle smelled of dust and for some reason felt just a little cooler than the rest of the room. Of course, she refused.

"Are you an idiot!? I'm twenty-four years old! You can't make me stand here like some brat!"

At this Roy actually laughed, his voice booming throughout the room, hit a soft spot had he? With ease, the man took a hold of her collar once again and spun her around to face the wall. "Actually yes I can and I expect you to stand there like the brat you are."

"That's it, I'm leaving. Send me to prison." She grumbled and turned around yet another time, moving to make a run for it but just couldn't manage to get his hand off her anti-alchemic collar.

"Nope."

"Let go!"

For about ten minutes the young alchemist fought, though no matter what she did, having her throat anchored like that prevented her from posing any real threat and only made her sore. Like a misbehaved dog, she finally gave up. Breathing heavily and feeling more than embarrassed as she was for a final time turned into the corner.

"Good." The man said and then moved back to his desk to finish a report and set the blueprints for her new windows aside. Of course, he didn't expect her to give in so easily. With that thought, he looked up just in time to see her split and run like lightning towards the door. Despite her being quite short, she was quick. Without a second to waste, the soldier raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Large and violent sparks exploded in the doorway, preventing the thief from escaping. Angrily she turned to her captor.

"Are you kidding me?! You could have killed me!"

The man snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. Now go." He ordered as he pointed back towards the wall where he'd originally put her.

"Look, _adult_ to _adult_ , this _is_ ridiculous." El began and glared hard at him. "I'm not doing it. I deserve better treatment, this is...this is.." She paused for just a hair of a second. "This is harassment!" Before she could complain any more, sparks began to erupt closer and closer to her, forcing her to walk backward. "Mustang!" She shouted and grit her teeth in annoyance, at one point she challenged him and simply stopped moving, but this only ended up getting her hurt. Like a flaming hot slap to the face, he'd snapped off a smaller one and made just about direct contact, letting her know he was serious. She'd cringed and rubbed her face where she was sore and had a smear of what appeared to be soot on her right cheek.

"Tch!"

For another fifteen minutes she tried and failed to fight him and escape the room, but each time she was mildly burned in some area of her body. Run, dodge, jump, attack, complain, it alternated back and forth and a few times she'd come pretty close to succeeding but he was always one step ahead of her. Roy watched diligently as he stood near his desk and expected her to make a run for it again, but to his surprise and relief, she made no such move. Instead, she wiped some of the soot from her face and stood still. Catching her breath as her chest rose and fell in a steady, fast rhythm. Exhaustion drove her arms and legs to the brink of numbness, she felt like she'd just run a marathon. What irritated her the most, was that the man had done it all without even breaking a sweat. He just snapped his fingers and made her dance, that was all. The two stood quietly in the room for a few minutes, each slowly calculating what was going to happen next. When Ellie decided to move again, the Colonel prepared himself to counter her, but he simply watched as she glared at him like she'd lost the battle of a lifetime. Annoyed and drained of energy, the young alchemist let her gaze wander away from his, and sauntered back over to the wall where she found refuge and leaned her forehead against its cool surface.

This caught the man off guard, had he actually won? Did she actually give in this time or was it all just a ruse to get a leg in the door again? He waited a moment or so, analyzing her stature, her energy. Once he was sure she wasn't going to try again, he made his way calmly back over to his desk. He'd certainly lost some valuable time with his work, but perhaps it was worth it. The famous Scarlet had accepted his terms, and stood silently in a corner like a punished child. Even though it did seem a little strange to see a twenty-four year old person in this situation, it seemed to fit. Everyone had thought she was only maybe seventeen or eighteen, plus she was short and had a bit of a baby face. All in all, she did seem like a kid to everyone who met her, and her behavior didn't help. Deciding to close his mind to his wandering thoughts he forced himself back to work.

 _Half an hour later_

"Mustang..."

"Quiet."

"Mustang.." She said again, this time turning away from the corner. The man glanced up at her and raised a brow.

"Face the wall."

"I've been here long enough! This is embarrassing!"

"Good. Maybe you'll learn something." The man responded, she hated it when he said that. "Now turn around."

After she refused again she glanced over to the door, thoughts of making it out filling her mind space.

"Don't try it kid." The man warned. Her determined expression faltered, this simply wasn't fair.

A low demonic growl emanated from her throat as she sent dark vibes in his direction.

"You better not catch me with this collar off Colonel." It was her own warning, it was true she could be quite dangerous with her alchemy. Roy recalled a time where he'd witnessed her level an entire building full of people while in a rage. Incredibly no one had died during the attack, but it was made clear that she was capable of putting life to the side if she felt the situation called for it.

El couldn't comprehend how one man was holding her captive and subjecting her to such a childish punishment. She was the great Scarlet. The Phantom who terrorized city after city, the anarchist who refused to live for anything but adventure. Feeling overwhelmed with resentment, she turned back around, noting that her back was beginning to ache and her feet were about as unhappy as she was. Finding that he was seemingly making headway, Roy sat down and finished the last twenty minutes or so of his paperwork.

Once finished he placed the paperclipped sheets into a large envelope and addressed it, then picked it up and made his way across the room.

"Alright come on, I've got to drop this off." The man instructed. With an embarrassed blush the girl walked quietly away from the pride murdering, dingy smelling corner and took her place next to the Colonel. Though she listened, she refused to make eye contact. Period. Roy just scoffed with a hint of a smile and debated tousling her hair, but figured that would probably throw her over the edge.

Without a single utterance the duo made their way out of his office.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few hours were awkward and a pain, Eloise was forced to follow Mustang around like a lost puppy. Holding stacks of papers, cleaning, running errands etc. She called it torture, he called it community service. She argued he had no right to order her around, he pulled out files that stated exactly which sentences actually _did_ give him the right, and so on and so forth. Finally, she'd just accepted the work, but only for today! She was determined to find her way out of the pit she'd fallen into. Currently, she was sitting in the base clinic, a medium sized waiting room that was serviced by only three nurses and a single doctor. Apparently Roy had found it highly important that she have a check-up after her recent episode with alcohol poisoning. He tried to convince her that it had been orders from up top, but she wasn't buying it. He just enjoyed seeing her suffer. For once Roy wasn't the one to escort her around, but Hughes. The man wasn't so bad, he wasn't so strict like the others but he liked to hover.

Three times she'd made to take off, if there was one thing she hated, it was doctors. That was when Roy had been given clearance to clip a leash to her collar. Well, not a real leash, it was one of the chains used to connect hand and ankle cuffs, but it was long enough for Hughes to hold onto in order to deter her from making a break for it. She'd been nothing but stubborn the entire way, so much so that he practically had to drag her clear down the hall just to get into the clinic to begin with.

"It won't be so bad kid." The man chuckled and nudged her with his elbow. She was refusing to talk once again, and she had every intention of putting up a fight. The room was stiff with silence, nothing but the faint thrum of the heater kicking on. It had been partly sunny earlier that day, but it was looking like more snow was on the way. Waiting was the worst, but it finally came to an end when a man in a traditional white coat stepped into the room.

"Miss Elric?"

"That's us."

"You think? We're the only ones here." She jabbed and refused to stand as Hughes attempted to move towards the doctor. Maes tilted his head to one side and gave her a kind smile.

"Let's go hon."

"Don't call me hon." She pouted and sank lower into her seat.

"Alright then, let's go Ellie."

"I said no! I am just fine! I don't need a check-up!" She screeched and glared hard at the two men before her. Hughe's sighed and apologized to the doctor for the scene. The doctor, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, was a little surprised at the fight she was putting up over something as trivial as a follow-up. Cautiously he moved closer to her, his shoes making hardly a sound across the carpeted floor.

"Ellie? That's what you go by right?" His voice was deep, and smooth, like a warm blanket. She'd be lying if she said it didn't instantly soothe her a little. She looked up, her honey-colored eyes matching up with his forested hazels. "I'm sorry about all of this, I can tell you don't prefer doctors visits." He paused for a moment and knelt down to her level, this made her blush and feel a bit childish. "If you come with me, I'll be sure to make it quick. Okay?" He smiled. "Oh, I'm Doctor Bentley by the way. Pleasure to meet you."

Hughes simply stood by, chain in hand, and watched as the girl seemed to soften up a little. Impressive for sure. Bentley stood to his natural height once more and waited patiently. After a moment or so the girl stiffly shuffled to her feet and followed the man through a large Olive colored door. Hughes following behind closely to keep the chain slack. It took only moments for the young alchemist's anxiety to flare back up with a vengeance, the trigger? The strong scent of sanitizing products and the leftover distress of long gone patients. As she was led into a small examination room, she became even more tense, just itching for it all to be done with.

"Alright, so...alcohol poisoning hm?" He seemed a bit concerned that she was such a heavy drinker at such a young age, but he didn't go further into it. "Seem's like you had a bit of a rough time in the hospital huh? Sorry to hear that."

The casual chit-chat was starting to irritate her, so as she sat in a rather uncomfortable chair she bounced one knee up and down impatiently. The man seemed to notice this but didn't much care, or if he did, he didn't do anything about it. With a clank, the man set his clipboard down onto the countertop and welcomed a nurse who came in with a knock. She was perhaps thirty, but still quite youthful and her smile was pleasant.

"This is miss Maria, shes the top nurse here and a good friend." Bentley introduced, Eloise harumphed but said hello in as polite a voice as possible.

"Would you please remove your jacket?" The man instructed and she gave him quite the look of disbelief.

"No? There's no reason I should have to undress."

Hughes sighed and chuckled a bit under his breath, this kid was seriously feisty. He smiled and placed a firm hand on her right shoulder. "Ellie, why don't you just slip it off. You want this over with quick right? Better do what the man says so we can leave."

Ellie grumbled and folded her arms. "Not a chance! I shouldn't have to be here in the first place."

Everyone else in the room seemed to sulk a little at having to deal with such a petulant young woman. Finally, the Lieutenant colonel leaned over and whispered into the girl's ear.

 _"Come on, you don't want me to tell Mustang you caused trouble again right? What do you think he would say?"_ He uttered in a volume only she could hear. She didn't care what Mustang said, she _did_ , however, care about what he would _do_. She blushed deeply imagining having to face that damn corner again for who knows how long. She was a grown woman damn it! Yet he managed to do that to her. A low growl escaped her lips as she let out a huge huff of air she'd been holding, and slipped her arms out of her jacket. The doctor was curious as to what the soldier had said to get such a stubborn girl to suddenly change her mind, but he didn't press the issue.

"Good." The doctor grinned and began taking her vitals.

Ten minutes went by before he was finished and gave her a clean bill of health. More than ready to leave the thief hopped to her feet and slung her jacket over her shoulder, ready to take the door handle in her hand. Though when she did, Hughes stepped in the way. Confused, Ellie gave him a dumbfounded look and raised a hand.

"You mind moving Lieutenant Hughes?" She asked, her voice was calm and curious.

"Now then, for the injection." The doctor stated as he turned to the nurse who was preparing a syringe full of some sort of fluid. Like a monster had blasted through the room with the intent to kill, the tension in the room snapped like a taut rubber band. Eloise turned around and backed up, bumping into Hughes.

"W..What?"

The doctor picked up the nervous quiver in her tone and gave her a surprised but reassuring look. "Now, now. It's alright. You can lie down for this if you want."

"Ha! _You_ can lie down! No way I'm getting that!" And there went the fuse, the girl shoved Hughes out of the way of the door, clutching the door handle in her palm and twisting, but was rather quickly pulled backward by the chain attached to her collar.

"Come on kid!" Hughes yelled to try and get his voice over the top of hers so she could hear him. "It's just quick! The higher-ups have ordered all soldiers to receive this vaccine! Diptheria cases have been killing people all over Amestris!" Struggling to keep hold of her, he hoisted her up into his arms. She was remarkably small, even for a woman.

"I don't care! Let me go!" She panicked now, kicking and writhing. Her arms flailing in whichever direction they chose as she tried to escape. "Please! I don't want it! I'll be fine!"

 _Fast forward ten minutes._

Ellie sat quietly in her chair as the doctor looked her dead in the eye, his hazel irises meeting up with her sunset yellows. So far, they hadn't budged. Maes and the doctor had remained calm and supportive, like a steady stream that never wavered. Still, they were pressed for time now.

"Ellie, I need you to cooperate. Come on now." The doctor instructed a little more firmly this time, his tone low and strong. He watched as the young woman shifted her sight away from him but then smirked.

"It's not going to happen." She said in a sing-song fashion, standing up this time and taking a step closer to the man, challenging him. Instead of being nervous the way most others would have been, he simply smiled down at her with a thick sense of authority. The pressure of his gaze nearly caused her to lose some edge, but she fought it off quickly.

"If you don't be good and let me do this, then I'll just have to hold you down won't I?" The man explained with a simplicity that gave zero room for negotiation. It was fact, and would not be changed.

"That a challenge boss?" The girl hissed venomously. Eloise did not take to this kindly, instead, she waited a moment but then in flash pulled her elbow back and then shoved her fist forward to land a heavy blow straight to the man's jaw. Though as she moved, the expected trajectory changed dramatically.

"Ai!" She yelped as he flawlessly avoided her strike, bringing a hand down quickly and wrapping it around her forearm then giving it a firm twist. The action forced her to spin around or risk breaking her arm. Once he'd turned her around like a dancers ribbon, he forced her down to the chair and made her bend over it, laying her head and chest against its plush surface. Before she could even react, he also had both of her arms pinned securely. The sudden redirection of her attack left her speechless and confused. Hughes sighed with a mild look of pity but also fancying just a hint of _'I tried to warn you'_ somewhere within.

"Now then, are you going to behave and let me do my job?" Bentley questioned as he stood above her, the very faint tug of a grin pulling at the corner of his lips. Feeling quite overwhelmed and lost, the girl just closed her eyes and pouted, then while fighting off tears, gave a meek nod. "Good." He praised. "Now, I can either keep you pinned down here and administer this shot in your thigh, or you can promise to hold still and let me use your arm instead."

Her face was a stove top by this point, embarrassed beyond belief. She never wanted to have to look at anyone again after all of this was over with. Thinking about her options, she realized that in order for him to give it to her in her thigh, he would have to pull her pants down. No way she was going to subject herself to that sort of intense humiliation, so arm it was. Closing her eyes again, she allowed her body to go lax, letting him know that she was done fighting. Once she was calmed, he let go and watched her sit up, and if he wasn't mistaken, there were small prickles of tears welling up in the corners of her lemony eyes. The nurse came back over but the doctor turned to her and instead felt the need to do it himself. Without making a sound, Eloise watched as the man cleansed a small area on the outer side of her upper arm and then took the cap off the syringe.

"W..Wait-" She shivered and tried not to lean away but couldn't help it. She truly hated these things and not just in anger, but also in deep fear.

"Ah, ah." He scolded and took a firm hold of her arm. He paid mindful attention to the young alchemist to be sure she didn't panic herself into shock. She had already begun breathing rapidly again.

"I..I-"

"Will be fine." He finished for her. "Here we go." Bentley said with a small smile and forced her to keep her eyes on him and not the needle. With a small pinch of pain, he injected the vaccine and then placed it on the tray the nurse was holding. "There! All finished." The man said cheerfully and placed his hands on his hips. Hughes nodded his thanks to him and took in a deep breath, then let it out steadily. All of this over one little shot? He found it comical that this girl could take a serious fight, breaking bones etc, but she couldn't handle one little prick of a needle when her health demanded it. Pitiful. Though he thought this he grinned, helping Ellie to slip her arms back through the sleeves of her ruby jacket. Her poor face was still a fiery red as she was once again completely overpowered.

"H...How...?" She began but stopped herself short to avoid any more humiliation. The doctor, however, seemed to read her mind perfectly and was more than happy to share his little secrets.

"I'm a martial artist. I teach a class on the weekends. Feel free to stop by sometime if you want to challenge me again, I'll teach you the ins and outs." He laughed and watched as the two left the clinic, both seemingly more tired than when they'd first arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

Like a dog tethered by a chain, Eloise remained at the disposal of the military, and like years had gone by, two months came to pass. She'd been passed around like a hot potato. Given a plethora of duties such as the dishwasher in the cafeteria, being sent around to collect the trash from each room, carrying books and other documents to their respective parties, and general cleaning. Roy had kept up his parental threats which greatly annoyed her, but she recoiled by playing creative pranks on anyone she disapproved of, which was pretty much everyone. Though recently her problems weren't solely around her captors, she had learned to live with them for the most part as of late. What was disturbing her most, were her nightmares. They'd become frequent and fierce, she screamed in her sleep and fought for her life against invisible monsters. It had become so bad that for the past week she'd refused to sleep, other than the occasional short cat nap which only lasted perhaps twenty minutes. Nothing long enough to dip her mind into vast torturous dreamscapes.

Today she was cleaning a set of glass doors near the records department. If even one person saw her lazing about, she was immediately put to work. It didn't matter what it was, as long as it kept her busy. In fact, one time they had nothing for her to do, so she was required to sharpen pencils and test pens all day to see if they worked well or not. In short, it had been tedious, but there were worse things.

Like a ghost in the back of her mind a voice began to call for her, though she looked for it, she couldn't find its source. Until suddenly she was roughly clapped on the shoulder, startling her awake. She hadn't known it but she'd been sleeping, thankfully none of the demons that liked to taunt her unconscious thoughts had come to bother her. When she gathered more of her senses she realized her pant leg was soaking wet and her hand was lazily dipped inside a bucket of water, her body slumped against the door she had been cleaning. When she looked up she met the stern but somewhat concerned face of Roy Mustang. Defensively she stood and shook out her hand, then squeezed the loose fabric of her pants and wrung out as much water as she could, which really only made it worse as cool water flooded down her leg and filled her boot.

"You okay kid?" He asked curiously. At first, he had been ready to give her an earful of complaints as she'd been sleeping on the job, but now he wore a mild expression and watched as the girl sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"Of course I'm okay, and I'm not a kid."

Now that Roy was in full view, she noticed his hint of concern and realized she probably looked horrible. It was true, she'd developed dark circles, and her usual spitfire rebellious eyes were droopy and distant. Not only that but she wasn't the defiant delinquent he knew her to be, not for about a week now. Havoc had explained how her nightmares had supposedly stopped, but now Roy had a different theory. She wasn't sleeping, to keep the nightmares away. Feeling sort of bad for the girl he sighed.

"Follow me." He instructed calmly and turned to walk, without complaint the young woman did as ordered and made her way after him. At this point she really didn't care what he wanted or instructed her to do. The halls were all a blur as she walked behind her superior and ignored everything else. The snow outside was thick and the snowflakes as of the moment were large enough to make ever so tiny taps against the glass windows. Part of her envied the simple things in life, like snowflakes. Though they are likely to melt soon after they reach the Earth, they don't fear, they just plunge from the clouds and face their fate head on. No tricks, no hiding, just accepting what was to happen. A sorrowful breath escaped her lips, she remembered how much Alphonse loved snow. He didn't complain about how cold it was, or the icy water that soaked his hands when a snowball melted within them. He just enjoyed it while it lasted, her heart began to ache as she thought of her little brother. It was all her fault, it was her idea to bring Mom back, Al hadn't thought it was a good idea but she pestered him into doing it with her. So many decisions she'd made, and now she wondered if they were acts of cowardice. Instead of facing the fact that she'd done that horrible thing, she ran from home and kept her mind busy by committing crimes clear across the map. It was never her intention to end up like this, and yeah for a time she'd thought about joining the military but, the thought of having to face everyone who learned of her incident was sickening. After her arm and leg had been replaced with Wyn's handiwork, she'd left him a note and run away. Not once did she ever go back, not for all those years. Hell, she hadn't even visited Al or Mom's grave, it was just too painful. Despite this, she did send Wyn letters though, he was a good friend and really all she had left.

Trapped within the prison of her own mind, she didn't realize when Roy stopped walking and she clumsily bumped into the man. Confused as the accident rammed her back into reality, she looked around. She didn't recognize the area until she saw the pictures on the wall in the hall they occupied. They...were at Roy's door? His private quarters. Rubbing her nose, she looked up at him and apologized.

"S..Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"You're fine." He reassured with little emotion, with a cheery jingle he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and slipped a brass key into the doorknob. The sound of the pins rising up and the shaft turning sort of made Ellie shudder. It reminded her too much of a jail cell being unlocked.

"C..Colonel?" She began but didn't finish her question. Her feet were aching from being on them so long, it was nearing six o'clock and the sun was perching sleepily on the horizon, shining a brilliant gold over the landscape that was slowly but surely being blanketed by thick snowflakes. Roy walked into his room and glanced back at her, giving her the silent order of following him inside. Nervousness began to swell within the girl as she sheepishly looked around, why were they there? Was it appropriate for her to be in his room like this? Unable to think about anything else, she gazed about and examined the contents of the area. It was clean but lived in. A few papers rested on the dining room table, a few uncomfortable-looking pillows sat in each corner of the cream colored couch, a coffee cup on the counter etc. It was cozy, but she just couldn't feel at ease standing in his dorm like this. As she was pondering these things the man reached into a cabinet and pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a large white t-shirt. Neither one of them exchanged words during this time until he approached her and held out the clothing items for her to take. Hesitantly she accepted them and wondered what she was to do with them, assuming that it was just another job for her to do since she'd fallen asleep cleaning the glass doors before. Roy moved out of sight for a time and into what she assumed was his bedroom. It was a few minutes before he came back out, and when he did he came to a stop just in front of her.

Soft onyx eyes locked with her yellow ochre ones. He could see that she was confused.

"Go ahead and change into those clothes, yours are soaking wet." He instructed.

Ellie blinked a few times in confusion, she just didn't understand why he would request such a strange thing. "Mustang?..."

He raised a brow and gave her just the hint of a stern look. Realizing her mistake she rolled her eyes and corrected herself. "Sir."

Pleased with her adjustment, he tousled her hair. The young alchemist's eyes widened in shock as she felt his large hand mess up her mop of spun gold. When she finally had the guts to look up she saw that he was smiling. It wasn't a cocky grin, nor an authority drenched smirk, but just a genuine smile. A deep blush bloomed across her pale cheeks and she averted her eyes quickly. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest and she just didn't understand why she was so embarrassed.

"Go get changed and report back to me." He spoke calmly as he turned and headed to the kitchen to pull out a tea kettle for the morning.

Not feeling comfortable with the command she glared, a little of her flame returning to her with the current events. "Thanks but I'd rather change into some of my own clothes." She defied and stood in place, then set the small stack of folded clothes on the arm of the sofa. Though she tried to seem confident, Roy could see right through her. She was just confused and didn't understand but that was no excuse to not follow his instruction. Ellie let her gaze shift toward the window where the snow was still lightly tapping away. While she was preoccupied Mustang returned to her side, took a firm but gentle hold of her left arm, picked up the clothes with his other hand and lead her away and to the bathroom.

"Uh..H..Hey!" She protested, but she was just too worn out to really fight him so instead, she simply adopted a pout and allowed him to drag her to the bathroom door.

"Go get dressed. That's an order, understood kid?" He replied firmly, but he didn't seem to really be upset, just expectant. He set the clothes in her arms and stood there until she finally decided to just do as he said. Feeling strange she turned around and opened the door and walked in, turned the light on and closed the door. Alone again her thoughts began to wander, though this time she was able to reign them in a little.

Around five minutes later Scarlet opened the door and walked out of the small bathroom and stood there awkwardly. Unsure what exactly to do now, and quite shy being dressed in Roy's clothes she rubbed her arm and kept her gaze downcast.

"There, I'm sure you feel better now that you're dry." The man smiled as he arrived before her, he didn't want to admit it but the girl was damn cute standing there like that.

"Y..Yeah..." She responded and he didn't miss the blush that was still resting happily on her face.

"Alright, come on." He said as he moved to the right and walked passed her to the door to his room. Surprisingly the door didn't creak at all when he opened it, and inside was a cozy looking bed with thick black blankets and white pillows. Who knew he took his sleep experience so seriously? This bed was fit for a king, it was much larger than the one she had in her room. The damn guy, taking all the good stuff for himself.

"S..Sir, I don't feel comfortable with this...what are you-?" She began as her thoughts shifted to that of things she would never utter out loud. She felt her ears heat up as she forced the thoughts out of her head.

The man just sighed and chuckled from behind her. "Don't. It's not like that. I want you to go get some sleep."

His words caused the blonde to jerk her head upwards and show him the intense look of shock she wore so blatently. "W..What?! I can't sleep in your bed! You pervert!" She squealed and ducked under his arm, making her escape into his living room. Mustang rolled his coal black eyes and gave her an incredulous side glance, tilting his head to her direction.

"It will be fine, if you're worried, my bedding is cleaned once a week so it's not dirty."

That wasn't the problem at all though, she didn't want to sleep. Her nightmares came every time she closed her eyes longer than twenty minutes, and they were horrible. It was like a cancer that plagued her mind, and she had to keep away from it. He watched as she fidgeted in place and refused to look up, instead she planted herself on the couch and folded her arms like a disobedient tween. He breathed out a sigh of annoyance and made his way to her and took her by the arm. Of course, she complained, she pulled her weight against his but she wasn't really much to begin with.

"Enough Ellie, you need to get some rest." He scolded as he hauled her off towards the bedroom.

"I'm perfectly rested!"

The man scoffed his disbelief.

"You're a terrible liar.." The Colonel mused at her failed attempt.

"No, please. Please, I can't sleep I-" She whined and continued to pull against him all to no avail.

"I know about your nightmares El."

Her breath lodged in her throat at his words, what all did he know? She hadn't said anything to anyone. She'd stopped sleeping in long sessions and had staved off the bad dreams, so why was he assuming the dreams were the issue?

"Psht, nightmares? What do you mean? I'm not a little kid Roy." The Fullmetal alchemist denied smoothly but her hairline was prickled with sweat at the thought of going into REM.

Mustang stopped at the bedroom door and turned to her, a calm smile planted at the corner of his lips. He rested a warm hand on her shoulder and the weight of it made her feel just a little more secure.

"It's okay. It's just between you and me. And its Colonel Mustang or Sir, got that?" He said sternly but without malice. "Listen.." He continued with a sigh and shifted his eyes from her to the darkening world outside the window, and back to her again. "You need to sleep. I'll stay here with you if you need."

Ellie was sure she was suffering a heart attack as a result of his offer, Roy watching over her while she slept?! How insane! She was far to prideful to allow that. Still...

A warm, light laugh brought her out of her intense brooding and she looked up to see him staring calmly down upon her.

"You know, if you blush anymore I may take you to the doctor to check for fever." He teased. That did it, she ever so slightly yelped under her breath and covered her mouth as a thick heat warmed her face even more. This guy was just messing with her for sure. Making her blush like mad in her shyness, but there was something comforting about that warm laugh of his. Something she couldn't place, but...she wanted to keep the feeling it gave her tucked away inside where it couldn't escape. Without words, the man took hold of her upper arm and walked her into the bedroom, when she refused and fought he effortlessly hoisted her up into his arms and dropped her down onto the large mattress. The sudden fall caused her to clamp her eyes shut but she soon opened them and looked up, sitting on top of the comfy covers.

"I...I can't." She whimpered under her breath. "It's...it's about that time...it's always about the same thing..."

Suddenly understanding why this was such a serious problem for her, Roy knelt down to the floor so that he was just below eye level with his charge. A sincere and serious expression graced his eyes as he prepared the words he wanted. She wiped a few stray tears from her honeycomb orbs and sniffled, of course she was embarrassed by this but what could she do?

"Listen Ellie, I'll stay here with you. I won't let you fall into a nightmare. I'll wake you up if I see you begin to struggle." As he told her this he wrapped a strong arm around her midsection and sort of lofted her up a little and moved her towards the pillow side of the bed. She squirmed a little but was really too tired to argue much, but he still rested a firm hand to her chest and pressed her down with little force into the bed when she tried to sit up. If she was being honest, the cool blankets were quite soothing to the touch as she rested beneath them while he layered them on.

It was then that the military official noticed she was trembling, how bad were her nightmares exactly? This was more like something that required therapy. He walked over to his night desk and switched on a lamp that showered the room in a soft yellow light.

"There, this should help a little." He commented, though when he returned to the bedside to check to see how she was doing, she was already sound asleep. Surprised he shook his head slowly at just how exhausted she'd been. Because he'd promised, he pulled out the chair from his desk and took a seat, pulling a book from a drawer and flipping it open to read quietly to himself.

The night dragged on for what seemed like forever for Roy, but the story he was reading helped. Problem was, come three a.m he'd finished it, not only that but he was growing dangerously tired himself. He sat there for thirty minutes or so after closing the book, wondering how much work he had to do the next day.

"Mm...M..Mom.." A muffled moan came from the blankets across from him. Curiously he stood from his seat and shuffled quietly to her bedside. There she rested, her mess of golden hair strewn about in each direction, apparently at some point the tie keeping her braid together had come loose, allowing her hair to unravel in every which direction. "N...No..." Another displaced cry crept from beneath the blanket. Feeling sympathy for his young alchemist, he placed a warm hand to her forehead and brushed the hair from her face. The touch seemed to relax her a little, and her pained expression calmed to a small degree.

"Poor kid.." He muttered quietly to himself. Though as he made to go back to his chair, she again began to whimper. Glancing back at Scarlet, he saw that her mouth was twisted into some sort of upset form. As if she was ready to scream. Once he'd taken a few mental notes, he shifted his gaze to the window where it was rather light outside from snowfall. Watching as the girl began to cry silent tears in her sleep, he removed his boots and jacket, then silently climbed on top of the covers beside her. Even though it was technically not appropriate for him to do such a thing, he felt she needed it. The Colonel rested his tired head against a pillow and took delicate hold of his little thief's hand, rubbing soothing circles into her skin with his thumb. After a few moments she did seem to calm down, and finally, she fell back into a calm sleep. With Ellie now resting soundly, he tried to focus on things to keep him awake, but after ten minutes his eyes fluttered closed and he was out.

...

Review!


	6. Chapter 6

Sunlight peeked through the set of white curtains that hung over the window, cascading an invading light upon Ellie's face. Eventually, she began to sense the change in her surroundings and grumbled, burying herself further beneath the blankets. However, being burrowed deep within the bedding caused her to overheat within only a short time, so she gave up and forced herself to sit up. Her body was a little achy today, but other than that she wasn't too bad. Feeling sleepy still, she turned over and laid down against the pillow once again, hoping to ignore the sun. Without a word, she closed her eyes and snuggled up against the nearest heat source. Her breathing was soft and regular until she suddenly remembered that she wasn't in her own bed and that there shouldn't have been any sort of heat source anywhere near her. Shooting her eyes open she found her nose was only inches from Roy Mustangs. He was sound asleep, still partially dressed in uniform and on top of the blankets.

Eloise froze completely, not even managing to breathe. Her cheeks felt hot even to her as she gazed upon her sleeping Colonel, afraid to move even an inch. She sat there in stasis for close to ten minutes, just staring wide-eyed at the man before her. Soon, however, the sun rays that peeked through the window climbed higher and rested themselves on Roy's sleeping figure. He grimaced as the light washed across his face, and Ellie was mortified when the man ever so slowly opened his tired eyes. At first, Mustang wasn't quite sure what he was looking at, that was until he remembered what had happened the night before.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he looked into the panicked eyes of his soldier, taking note of how red her face was. His words caused her to yelp as she snapped and shoved out her arms defensively, effectively knocking the man with a flail over the edge of the bed and onto the hard floor below. "Gk, what the hell...?" He grumbled as he sat up, rubbing his side.

"Y..Y..You were in bed with me!" Ellie stuttered and as she attempted to get out of bed herself but was snagged on part of the blanket and fell out as well, landing on the floor with a thud.

Roy rubbed his head and yawned. "You don't need to panic. You started having a nightmare last night so I laid down beside you and held your hand. Yeah maybe it sounds weird but you calmed down pretty quick."

Blushing even harder Ellie nearly fell over. "S..S..So! You can't just climb into bed with whatever woman you please!" She continued, imagining the man holding her hand while she slept.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The guy muttered under his breath as he made his way out to the kitchen and started brewing up some coffee. Without looking, he pointed over to the couch where Ellie's clothes sat neatly folded. "I washed those for you."

The Fullmetal Alchemist was cherry red as she imagined him cleaning her clothes. "Tch.." She complained as she emerged nervously from the bedroom.

"A simple _'Thank You'_ would do." He added shortly.

In a bit of a frenzy, the girl gulped hard and did her best to reply. "Th..Th...Thank You.."

Roy sighed and turned around, giving her a sympathetic smirk. "Would you calm down?"

His suggestion only irritated the girl who was still rather embarrassed at having woken up in bed beside him. "I am _perfectly_ calm!" She shouted as she rushed to grab the stack of clothes and then scrambled into the bathroom to get dressed.

"Damn." Roy complained sleepily as he waited impatiently for his coffee to finish up. "I think I liked her better when she was sleep deprived."

Once his coffee was made, he tipped the pot to fill up his mug, though as he was pouring, the bathroom door slammed open so violently that it startled him causing him to spill it on his hand.

"Gah!" He called out in pain but managed to set the pot back onto the counter without dropping it. Immediately he ran his hand under cold tap water, inwardly cursing the skittish alchemist.

"You okay?" She questioned timidly as she came a little closer, now fully dressed in her proper wear.

"Fine." He replied and shut off the water. She sort of felt bad having made him jump so bad.

"What time is it?" She asked as she took a seat on the sofa, her blonde hair a bit of a mess due to the fact that she refused to use his comb. Drawing her fingers through it she did her best to tame it into a braid.

Mustang peeked around the corner at the clock and began pouring his criminal a cup of coffee as well. "It's five after one."

"What!?" The younger alchemist exclaimed, once again causing Roy to jolt and spill some of the hot liquid onto the countertop.

" _Damn it_ _kid._ " He griped. "It's too early to be this obnoxious!" He scolded as he grabbed a rag and wiped up the mess. With a sigh he turned and brought her the cup, setting it on the coffee table before her. "It's fine. I expected you to sleep in. I didn't really expect myself to sleep so long, but I stayed up most of the night so I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise."

Eloise blushed as she looked down and ran her index finger along the rim of the white mug. She was never a fan of coffee, though she did like how it smelled.

"Drink up, it'll help."

"I...don't like coffee.."

Roy just smirked. "Well, most children don't."

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

He laughed lightly under his breath as he took a sip of his own, somehow an expert at drinking near boiling fluid without obtaining injury.

"Oh! Oh! But there is something I _do_ like." She piped up as she stood and ran over to the kitchen cupboards and began fishing around for some unknown item. Roy watched in confusion as he sat back against the back of the couch and observed the girl.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Do you have any Tequila?" She called back as she continued to push aside the various food items. Giving up on the lower cupboards she opened a low lying drawer and used it as a step to climb up onto the counter.

"What? Why on Earth do you need-" He began but was promptly cut off.

"Here it is! What about cream? You got any in the fridge?"

Finally connecting the dots Roy stood with an exasperated sigh and walked up behind her as she fished around through the spice cabinet for other ingredients. Without warning, he placed his hands beneath her arms and lifted her off the counter, setting her firmly on her feet before him.

"Wh-?..Hey! Don't just go picking me up whenever you feel like!" She protested as she looked up into his stern features, a dusting of red accenting her pale cheeks.

"No alcohol. If you don't remember, that's what landed you here in the first place. And anyway, why would you turn perfectly good coffee into an alcoholic drink right after you wake up?" He reprimanded with a raised brow.

"But it would only be a little, you obviously like it otherwise you wouldn't have-"

"That's enough kid." He interjected and placed the bottle of liquor back up into the cupboard and out of her reach. "You're not to drink any form of alcohol, that's an order. Got it?"

Grumbling the young alchemist plopped herself back down onto the sofa and rested one leg over its arm.

"Yeah, yeah.." She moaned and gazed up at the ceiling with disdain.

"Eloise." He warned, of course, she wasn't about to cooperate.

"I said yeah."

The man rolled his eyes and glared a touch. Finding that arguing wasn't going to help he walked to the back of the sofa she was resting on and leaned over it, his head hovering over hers, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"You wanna do this today? I can take you back to that cell if that's what you prefer."

"Are you threatening me?"

More serious, he pressed his fingers together and she watched as a few tiny snaps of fire and embers danced around them. Faltering in her stubbornness, she growled.

" _Alright alright._ Yes Sir. You happy now?"

He smiled brightly and reached down, messing up her hair by giving her a rough pat. "Much better. Now come on, drink your coffee so we can get to work."

Sometime later Eloise managed to drink most of what was in her cup, though she hated it, it did give her a boost of energy. Still though, why coffee? It tasted like someone had steeped cardboard in boiling water for a few hours and then decided it would be nice as a beverage. Shudder. As Roy stood to fetch his coat from his room, he watched as the girl made her way to the kitchen and reached into the cupboard.

"El.." He warned, this of course just landed him an agitated glare from his charge.

"Relax officer, I'm grabbing some bread to make some toast, or are you gonna forbid me from that too?"

At her testiness, Mustang scoffed out a light chuckle before continuing into his room where he properly dressed for the day.

* * *

Scarlet spent the next several hours cleaning as usual, though this time it was a little more tedious. With the snow being tracked into the building nonstop she found herself mopping up and scrubbing carpets over and over again. Often times in the same area. Regardless of how annoying it was, she still did her job the best she could. Around four o'clock, however, a group of new soldiers came in through the main doors, tracking along with them a huge amount of muddied snow and water. Despite having just finished cleaning that section, she pulled her bucket of sudsy water closer and plunged the mop into it. To her surprise, as she began cleaning one of the men walked up to her and smirked.

"Hey, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist right? The phantom of Amestris?"

Finding no reason to stop her work she just continued to mop. "Yeah, what of it."

"Oh come on now, don't be like that.." He teased and allowed a mischievous grin pull across his lips. As she dragged the mop around the muddy water, he stepped right into it again, stomping a boot down onto the spot she'd just cleared. "Hey, it looks like you missed a spot."

The soldier watched as the much shorter alchemist stood up straight and sucked in a deep breath, steadying her temper. "You're right, so why don't you move your ass and go report to your commanding officer like the dog you are.."

 _Yep, Anger management attempt failed._

The man glared and grit his teeth. "Wha'd you say?" He growled deeply. Scarlet smirked.

"Go on now, I think I hear your master calling." She continued. The other soldiers he'd walked in with clammed up, apparently knowing that insulting this particular man was a bad idea for most people. Unable to react in time, the girl found herself pinned roughly against a wall, his strong hand wrapped around her throat. She winced as he held her firmly in place where he gave her a dangerous smile.

"Funny. Aren't you the one wearing a collar?" He countered, using his grip on her throat to push the metal collar up higher and into her jaw painfully.

"Gk..Heh, yeah..t..to make sure I...d..don't kick your ass..." She choked out. "Y..You wouldn't stand a ch..chance against me without it.."

"Shit man, you gonna let her say that to you?" Came the angered voice of one of his lackeys.

"Take her down Jack!" Another voice called.

Jack continued to hold her up against the wall, occasionally tightening his grip just to watch her squirm and gasp. "Maybe they're right. You need to be put in your place don't you." He teased as he brought his face closer to hers, his blue eyes gazing down into her golden ones.

"Tch...H..heh..Ahaha..." She laughed. "It won't matter if you beat me h..here. You st..still couldn't fight m..me without th..this collar.."

That was the last straw and El winced as he yanked her from the wall and slammed her down into the marble floor. Suddenly she heard the familiar zap of an alchemic reaction and at first her stomach sank. What was he going to do to her? Though as she was crushed into the floor, the man's knee pressed painfully into her back, and she felt the collar around her neck removed. Wide-eyed at what had just happened, it took her a moment to fully realize what was going on.

"There, now let me kick your snarky ass properly." The guy demanded with a heavy glare.

"Jack! Are you insane!? You're gonna get discharged for that!" The one female soldier in the group panicked as she took a step backward. "I'm not having this, I'm leaving. You guys can throw away everything but I won't." With that the girl took off down the hall to hopefully not be held accountable by association.

"Come on! You scared?" Jack taunted the Fullmetal alchemist who brought a cool hand up to her throat and rubbed the area where the collar had rested.

Lowering her head, she couldn't help but begin laughing. As she looked up at the man before her she gave him a sympathetic smile. "Oh, you poor, poor idiot...didn't your mother ever teach you to never injure something you can't kill?"

Jack's eyes narrowed as he took a fighter's stance. "Yeah actually, she did."

See, the thing is. Most of the Fullmetal Alchemists trademark features were kept under wraps. The military didn't want information on her leaking, so this poor sap had no idea she didn't need transmutation circles for her moves, nor just how much of a fighter she was.

Before the soldier could react, El slid a hand slowly over her automail arm, flashing blue and white electrical discharges as it was transformed into a blade.

"Wh..What the hell? What is that?" Jack questioned in shock and confusion.

"Oh, now don't tell me you don't know about me? I'm the child of sin..you should be more careful who you pick your fights with."

In that instant, El dashed with incredible speed and kicked the cocky bastard into a wall, leaving a huge crater that stretched out around his body. He coughed violently and collapsed to the cold floor below, clawing at his chest, desperately trying to call the air back into his lungs. El however, didn't give him the luxury, instead she smiled wildly and grabbed the guy by his leg and dragged him across the marble into the center of the room, plopping him down into the muddy water he'd tracked in.

"Here's whats gonna happen, _Jack_. You're gonna clean this mess up with your tongue or I'm gonna send this fancy blade through your spine, you got that?"

"Tch, you bitch!" He screamed and twisted around in an attempt to attack, surprisingly he managed to land a firm punch into his attacker's right leg. El groaned out in pain as she was knocked over only because she slipped on the slick surface. Sensing a moment to move, Jack clambered back up onto his feet and then dropped onto her, sending punch after punch down onto her body. It took a moment for her to find her senses, but when she did she sent a metal fist crashing into his chiseled jawline. The man was sent flying off of her, dazed and confused as he was overcome with pain. Still, he didn't give up, rushing back over to her the two began to fight once again, each trading blows with one another. Even though the guy was an ass, he was definitely a good fighter, she had to give him that much at least.

"Tch, you're nothing but pathetic!" The man began to say as they both tried to get within reach of each other but avoid taking any hits. Ducking and dodging each traded attack. "Did you actually try to use human transmutation?! Let me ask, where's your arm and leg huh? Donate them to a good cause?!"

At this, Eloise stopped mid punch, and with a chance to breathe so did Jack.

"You're nothing but a waste of flesh and blood. I even heard you killed your brother in the process. How does that feel huh? You're the dog here, and rabid dogs should be put down."

Her face shadowed by her bangs, she began to step forward, arms resting limply at her sides.

"Aw, what's this? Giving up so suddenly? Did I touch a nerve? Come here dog, let me pet you, you'll feel better." He mocked and held out his arms as if to embrace her.

"Shut up." She muttered quietly under her breath as she walked a little faster in his direction. Having misheard her, he brought a hand up to his ear.

"What was that? Speak louder pet."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" The alchemist screamed and jumped towards the soldier, landing a wrought iron punch directly to his face. Blood splattered in every direction as his nose was crushed beneath her fist. "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING!"

"Ghak..! St..Stop! Urgh!" The soldier cried out weakly and frantically as the woman attacked him ruthlessly, hit after hit until the man was near unrecognizable. At one point he was knocked unconscious, but woke up sooner than he would have wanted to. "Pl..please! I..I'm S..oRRy!" At this change of pace the other soldiers rushed in and attempted to pull her off of their comrade, but it was no use. She was gripping onto him like a vice.

"Get off of him! You're gonna kill him!" The group howled and yanked on her with all of their might, finally tearing her away from the man she'd been destroying.

His gurgled words were drowned by the amount of blood that dripped from his battered face. In a panic, Jack dragged himself away from the crazed alchemist and into his protective group of friends. A trail of crimson staining the floor beneath him as he moved.

"ELOISE!" A huge voice blasted through the room, startling her out of her episode and causing her to freeze up in realization to what she'd done. "You four, take Mr. Cole to the infirmary then report to your squad director. Go!"

The group of men clumsily stood and helped their friend down the hall and out of sight.

Taking a moment to breathe before addressing the situation, Roy walked across the room and picked up Scarlet's collar, his boots landing heavily on the floor and echoing ominously. El stood very still and looked down at all of the blood and damages, including the crater in the wall.

"Look Mustang he-"

"Don't start!" The man barked and again steadied his breath. Without speaking, he raised a hand and crooked his index finger to call her to him. "Come here."

With a gulp, the Elric girl's aggressive demeanor crumbled, she could practically feel his intensity from where she stood. The man was furious. Nervously she walked across the dirtied marble and slowly stopped before her commanding officer. It was some time before she had the guts to look up at him, and what she saw made her physically flinch away. His eyes were like solid onyx and he glared at her like she'd never experienced before.

"Get rid of that thing." He ordered firmly as he glanced down to her automail weapon. Immediately she obeyed and with a light sizzle of electricity, her hand once again sat at the end of her wrist.

Though she was afraid to speak, she was boiling inside with things to say, a scowl finding it's way onto her young features. As she stood there, she watched as he lifted the collar in his gloved hands and motioned for her to turn around. Immediately she tried to protest.

"But-"

"Now." He responded dangerously, leaving absolutely zero room for argument. Awkwardly Eloise spun around and watched him bring the collar down before her and wrap it around her neck. She listened as he used alchemy to lock it once again, and as he did she felt the ability to use alchemy leave her behind. It was wasn't fair, yeah so she was a prisoner but taking away her alchemy? Was that even humane? However, as she thought this she looked around the damaged room yet again, coming to the conclusion that maybe she _did_ deserve a little scolding, but still, it's not like she'd started it. Quietly she turned around and once again prepared to tell her side of the story, but before she could Mustang shook his head and again motioned for her to turn around.

"Wh..What? Why?" She wondered as she watched a few members of the cleaning staff come out to clean up the mess. Roy sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and face the other direction. Eloise growled and balled her fists.

"Look I get it okay? I sort of messed up, but are you really gonna make me sit here and watch them take care of the mess?" She argued, but then realized that she was completely missing the point. She felt as he took hold of her wrists and clamped handcuffs down onto each one, locking her arms behind her back.

"Uh. Aw come on, you know I can just slip out of these right?" She pouted as she was twisted around to face him yet again. This time however his look was stern and quite frankly, intimidating. The young alchemist glared as Roy pointed a finger directly at her face, just inches away, the other hand on her shoulder to keep her held close.

"You take these off, and you'll spend the next two weeks in a prison cell. Understood?"

Normally she would have told him to piss off, but his seriousness made her feel like a bird caught in the clutches of a hungry cat. Deciding she was in enough trouble as it was, she huffed out a defeated breath and kept her eyes to the floor.

"Yes Sir."

With that Roy led her by the arm and away.

...

Review please!


	7. Chapter 7

Sitting quietly in her room, El thought about all that had happened. Of course, she had tried to just dismiss all of the chaos from her mind, but it always returned to torment her. Roy had ordered she stay in her room until further notice, and that was that. So far it had been a week. A full week locked in her dorm. Meals were brought to her, but no one visited. A few times she'd tried to get her guard to talk with her or tried to make him a deal and let her out, but it never worked. Apparently, they were under orders to not speak with her unless there was an emergency or if they were coming in, for example, to bring in food. It was torture, being stuck inside for this long with no one to occupy her other than herself. She only had one book to read and it wasn't something she had any interest in, so never bothered to pick it up. On the plus side, she now knew the general topography of her entire apartment. There were exactly five power sockets, two kitchen cupboards that always squeaked when opened, her bathroom light was a bit dusty and needed to be cleaned, there were eight letters mixed in with the pattern on the ceiling, along with the face of a cat which she found rather cute. The list went on, but she didn't really want to memorize all of the details of her living space, she wanted out. To be honest, she just didn't feel right about the whole thing. She'd lost her cool and beaten that guy half to death. Jack was still in the hospital at the moment and she wasn't sure of his current condition.

Going to the window she looked out at the white world before her. There was at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground in areas that hadn't been trecked. Sleepily she sat down on the large cushioned chair and rested her head on the back, allowing herself to continue to watch the city on the other side of the glass. She watched as a family passed down the snowy sidewalk, two small children in tow, each smiling hugely and catching snowflakes in their mouths. A twinge of something unknown knotted up in her stomach and her eyes watered to the smallest degree. What was wrong? Was she jealous? It didn't matter now, her family was gone and the only way to get them back was with the philosophers stone and from what she'd discovered, it just wasn't something she could be alright with using. Sighing hugely she wiped her eyes and inwardly cursed herself for crying over something like that. Just then a loud knocked rapped at the door. Immediately aware of her appearance she stood and adjusted her sweatshirt, wiping the tears that pooled at the corners of her eyes.

One last time she wiped her eyes with the end of her sleeve just before Roy Mustang walked into the room in silence. He seemed calm but dutiful as ever. Awkwardly, Eloise averted her eyes once they met with his. Why was she feeling so off? She wasn't ashamed of what she'd done, no way! At least, that's what she thought.

"Well, I'm sure after all of this time you would like to give me your side of the story?" The man suggested as he took a seat casually on her couch.

As if she'd just been pinched she glared and folded her arms. "No. My side of the story doesn't matter, I'm just the criminal defendant."

Roy raised a brow and absorbed her words, sighing. Sure he didn't expect her to be in the greatest of moods after he'd confined her here for so long, but to be this petulant was just ridiculous. Leaning forward, he pulled out a pen and a small notepad from his jacket. Seeing him prepared to actually write down details, Eloise let go of her pride and let out a huff of breath before sitting down on the couch opposite him.

"He..." She paused as she recalled the exchange of words from that day. "I was working, doing my job like I was instructed...and.."

Roy jotted down notes and stopped as she did, looking up at her with a calmness that made her want to spill all of her emotions to him. He gave her a look that made her feel like she could trust him, but why was she feeling like this? This guy had just made her life miserable as of recent. She'd lost her freedom, been locked up in jail, forced to work for the military and had her alchemy taken away from her. Yet, despite all of that, she didn't really mind his presence.

"He stepped into the area I had been cleaning and muddied it up again with his boots, then had the audacity to tell me that I'd 'missed a spot'." She explained, an irritated scowl forming on her lips as she glared at the edge of the table as something to focus on. The scribbling sound of the man's pen seemed a bit intimidating, this was probably all going to be entered into an official report, so she needed to be sure not to leave anything out.

Some time went on as she explained all that had taken place and finally stopped, too embarrassed to admit the real reason for her outburst and attack.

"So, why did you attack him so violently? When I showed up it looked like you'd tried to kill him." Roy explained quietly but firmly as he kept his piercing gaze upon his delinquent subordinate. "You're not telling me everything, are you."

"Tch.." Ellie spat as she jerked her field of vision to someplace else, though her stare was severe, there was a kind of weakness about it.

"El..." The man pried.

With a gulp and a shameful sigh, Scarlet gave in. "He...he brought up my family. Taunted me about the mistake I made back then...and I just lost it."

Roy took on a more understanding aura and wrote down a few more lines to the page he held in his gloved hand.

"To be honest..." She continued, this time sounding a bit broken. "If you hadn't shown up...I probably would have killed him. Or at least tried."

The tension between them seemed to lighten up a little as the air took on a more sympathetic feel.

"Alright. I understand." He said as he stood and moved back over to the door. "Start up your duties again, you have my permission to leave this room but stay inside the building. Is that understood?"

Eloise nodded.

"And put on your uniform before you go."

She grumbled a little at that last part but nodded again, with this Roy seemed pleased and left without another word. Part of her didn't want him to go, was that all he could do for her after everything that had happened? Just jot down a few notes? Then again, what had she been expecting? He was a veteren military man, not a counselor. Still, it sort of hurt that he had nothing else to say on the matter. Not a single comforting word.

...

Three days went by since her confinement had been lifted. She'd worked hard on all of the jobs she was given, she even complied when ordered to shine the boots of every soldier in the branch Roy commanded. Of course, it felt a little degrading, but she was still in a precarious situation after having attacked that soldier, and so didn't want to push her luck. Though, she _was_ sort of amused that since the attack, she was given a little more space by the average person. Apparently, she'd scared a few people, but honestly, she didn't mind. She felt like a pirate amongst peasants, they respected her ability and dared not upset her. It was great.

Even though she put her all into her work, and did her best to be respectful to her superiors, she just still didn't feel right. It was as though she could feel the heavy hands of her entire family weighing her down and accusing her of how she'd acted. The guy was still in the hospital, he'd been scheduled to be released but had experienced more severe head trauma than initially believed. If his condition didn't improve, he would likely need to go through surgery, which was a risky practice.

"Sir?" She spoke as she knocked on the door to Mustang's office, coffee in hand along with a folder he'd requested.

"Enter."

With little emotion, Eloise opened the door and briskly brought him his items. The young alchemist watched as her commanding officer sipped the hot drink and opened the file. To her surprise and discomfort, the file was that of Jacks' current medical condition. Like a trampled kitten, El looked away and timidly stepped backward.

"He's not doing good El." The man suddenly stated as she attempted to make her escape. "If he dies, I'm not sure I can save you from the law."

His words shot a shiver up her spine and all the way through her cranium. Unsure of how to respond, she remained silent, though after some time of standing still she broke and blurted out the words she'd been holding in, slamming her open palms down onto his desk.

"Look, I'm not sure what you're getting at but the guy harrassed me first. This is _his own_ fault. If I could have just been left alone, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. I mean what was I supposed to do? Let the idiot insult me and my family like that? Hell no! I mean yeah, if you wanna be mad at me then fine, but..but I'm not gonna apologize or anything so you should just get over it." Folding her arms, she glared down at him, though at this moment Roy picked up on a bit of something that she apparently didn't.

The young alchemist stood her ground as she watched the man in blue set his cup down and knit his fingers together as if to calm himself. Though right as she thought he was going to explode, she noticed he was smiling, or rather, smirking. The damn guy! What was it now?

"D..Don't look at me like that! I'm not some kid, I'm twenty-four remember? Don't forget who you're talking to, I'm the Red Phantom! I mean if-"

"You're feeling guilty, aren't you." The Colonel interrupted suddenly, causing Eloise to choke on her own breath. The way he looked up at her from his chair made her feel like he was looking right through to her soul, like there was absolutely nothing she could hide from him. She felt as her face and ears heated up, and she knew she was blushing with deep embarrassment. What was with this guy?! Why was she letting him get to her like that?!

"N-No! Are you crazy!? I-I-"

"I'm right aren't I?"

Trembling with an emotion she couldn't place, the Fullmetal Alchemist made an attempt to head towards the door but was promptly commanded to stop.

"No. Come back." He ordered sternly though with a hint of amusement. Wishing she could just ignore him and storm out, she clenched her fists, forcing herself to turn back around.

"I'm not feeling guilty! I don't get useless emotions like guilt." She argued but lacked the intensity to back up her claim. With a sigh, Roy took on a more serious air.

"You've been depressed for a week and a half now. Don't think I haven't noticed. What you did to that guy is really getting to you, isn't it? And you're dealing with the knowledge that he could still potentially die from the injuries you gave him, and it's causing you problems."

At being read like an open book for the whole world to hear, Eloise simply let out a huge breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A little sweat shimmering along her hairline as she was put on the spot without warning. Keeping her eyes fixed to the floor, she rubbed her arm sheepishly and seemed to wither away beneath the man's gaze as she searched but failed to find the words she needed. Again deciding that her typical aggression was the only route to take, she balled her fists up again and jerked her gaze back to him.

"Are you an idiot!? How would you feel if someone locked you up in a room for a week! I'm not feeling guilty I'm feeling-"

"Another reason I'm sure I'm right is how you behaved when I took you into custody after the fight." He said as he kept his focus on the girl before him. He watched as she stood not far from him, confused and flustered at his words.

"Wh-What?"

He gave her a knowing look. "You weren't wearing your collar, you could have attacked me or anyone else. You could have tried to escape, you could have done a number of things. Yet.." He paused as he stood and made his way quietly around the desk to stand before her. Peering down at the much shorter alchemist, he continued. "You obeyed my command. When I told you to come you did, and you allowed me to refasten the collar. This tells me that you already felt guilty about what you'd done the moment I walked in. That's why you let me arrest you without a fight."

"Y..You're wrong.." She stuttered as she glared up at him, inwardly demanding that her face cool off to get rid of the rosy shade that invaded her cheeks.

"So what do you need?" He asked suddenly, catching the woman off guard. Realizing she didn't understand, Roy asked again, clearer this time. "What do you need in order to get over this? Because right now your health is at risk, I can see that you haven't been sleeping again as well and you've hardly touched your food this entire time."

Finally accepting that arguing was futile, the girl again looked down. This time her eyes watering ever so slightly.

"I..." She whimpered. "I don't know.."

Roy listened in carefully as his kitten spoke.

"You're going to have to come to terms with what you've done. I'm not sure what the Fuhrer had in mind, but when I gave him the report he told me to handle the situation. That being because technically you're my charge, so if you act up it's on me." He was a bit sharper with his words towards the end of his sentence. Obviously, her outburst had made him look bad, but what did it matter? She wasn't about to say that the brat who'd harassed her didn't deserve to be told off.

"If you're done lecturing me I'd like to get back to work." She replied hotly. "What happened doesn't matter, and it doesn't matter how I feel about it."

The clock ticked away from the wall, causing even more tension to brew. Wishing to heaven that she could just escape this situation, Ellie fidgeted in place. She felt she was losing herself to this man, how could he read her so easily?

"Hm..." He began as he sighed and placed a pondering hand to his chin and then looked to Ellie with a quite serious expression. "You feel you need to atone for what you've done." Again he paused but then looked back to the young woman in question. "You've been on your own since you were twelve years old. All this time and you've been alone with no one to guide you, no one to correct you."

Awkwardly Eloise shifted back again and simply watched in mild irritation as the guy continued to spout nonsense. He wasn't wrong, but she didn't find the relevance in the words. Everyone knew she was orphaned, everyone knew she was a bit of a criminal, so why was he going on about things that were again obvious.

"Perhaps..." He walked away from her towards the window and glanced out as if finding his words somewhere outside. He turned back to look upon the prisoner who watched him curiously. "Maybe what you need is someone to give you the opportunity to take responsibility for your actions."

With a roll of her eyes, Scarlet sighed and tilted her head to the side. "Isn't that why I'm here at Central Headquarters? This is like prison you know."

"What I mean is face consequences."

Pausing Ellie stuffed her hands back into her pockets stubbornly. "Again, that's why I'm here Colonel."

After a moment of thought, Roy closed the space between them and looked down upon her with speculative eyes. "I think what you need, is to face some punishment for what you've done."

"Are you deaf? _That. Is. Why. I'm. Here_!" She shouted though this time seemed a little more flustered. A word like punish just didn't sit well with her, it made her feel small and trapped.

A small grin tugged at the corner of Roy's mouth as he leaned against the desk behind him. "Admit it, If you were punished for what you've done you'd feel better about it. Plus if you are made to face some consequence, the Fuhrer might be willing to continue to leave you under my care. I'll have you know he told me he was thinking about sending you back to your cell, now that you've proven you're a threat when provoked."

"Wasn't that obvious!? I am the child of sin! You chased me for five years!"

"Six."

"Whatever! What makes you think I'm gonna do as I'm told just because you're in charge of me now?"

Rebellious as she was, Roy could tell she was troubled. She wasn't combative with him the way she was with other people and he just couldn't really place why. She'd punched Hugh's in the face when he'd called her cute, she'd played useless pranks on most of the people within headquarters, she was always argumentative and had a hell of a mouth on her. Still, she never tried anything with him. So far all he'd received was a fair dose of attitude. What was she about?

"Admit it."

"Nope. I won't admit anything. I've committed countless crimes and I don't feel sorry for a single one. You should have seen the faces when I stole the Jewel of Breya."

Sucking in a sharp breath, she realized what she'd just confessed to and slammed a hand over her mouth. The infamous Jewel of Breya had been stolen years ago, all of the clues they'd scrounged up had indicated that it had been robbed by a group of foreign men by the gang name of Viiren. It was never recovered and that was because she'd tucked it away in a secret location as a token of her hard work. A birthday gift to herself if you will. Roy's brow raised and his lips parted ever so slightly at the words he'd just heard.

"I-I mean, if I had taken it. There was- I mean, what I meant to say was it-" Failing to come up with an excuse she broke out in a light sweat and again became defensive. "Anyways! What I'm saying is I don't care what I did to that soldier, he deserved every bit of it!"

Taking a deep breath to cool himself, Mustang closed his eyes. She was the most stubborn case he'd ever dealt with but for some reason, he just hated to imagine her locked up in a cage like a dangerous animal. She was just misled, untrained. He wasn't sure why he felt a need to take care of her, but it was there nonetheless.

"For now I'm just going to ignore that, right now we need to deal with whats current." He explained. "You know what you deserve. You deserve to do time in prison and stay there. Deep inside you know it's true. For whatever reason, you've been given a second chance. Probably because you're stubborn enough to amuse the Fuhrer." He paused as he moved closer, looming over her as she refused to back up in a fit of defiance. "I can tell just by looking at you, beating the hell out of that guy to the extent that you did just made you feel stupid didn't it. You're not the type to go that far over something trivial, you could have killed him."

"Yeah? And what do you know."

Roy scoffed a light laugh. "I chased your ass for six years and you don't think I know your patterns of behavior? You're a fighter for sure, but you're not a killer."

Unable to keep her hard glare she shifted her eyes away from his to focus on something else, dropping her shoulders a little as her walls were gradually broken.

"What he said hurt. I understand that. I've been told a few things myself, and I was damn ready to beat someone lifeless, but that's where I stopped. You don't act on a feeling like that." He said in a softer tone, remembering all of the times he'd been accused of murder regarding the Ishvalan war. "I've got paperwork to do so I can't argue with you about this anymore. If you need me for anything, you know where to find me." The man said dismissively as he turned and walked back to his desk, sitting down and preparing to tackle the stack of papers he needed to address. Leaving matters where they were, Eloise spun on her heel and left the room, all but busting the door off the hinges as she slammed it shut and stormed off down the hallway.

...

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

*A.N: I _do_ appreciate constructive criticism, though before you hate on my story without any valid input please take a moment to re-analyze my account name. Cheers! :D


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for your review! You know who you are!

...

Central City sparkled brilliantly in the early morning sunlight, multicolored lights flickered here and there, silver bells hung from doors and chimed pleasantly at each opening and closing. Christmas had arrived much faster than seemed possible, it's peaceful aura dancing about, leaving a peculiar kind of warmth for everyone in the snow-laden town. Central command was no different, despite being a military function the halls were strung with garland and the soft hint of cinnamon filled the air. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits with the coming of the holiday, which did, in fact, allow the base to run smoother than usual. Still, there was one man who was not pleased, the cheerful essence that seemed to infect everyone else had skipped over him. At least ever since about seven a.m that morning that is.

Roy sat in a chair near the window in Eloise's room, nothing to fill the silence other than the occasional hiss of the heater. A distant, almost sorrowful look plagued his eyes as he watched the snow continue to fall through the glass. Just then a light knock tapped at the bedroom door.

"You know, staring out that window isn't gonna help anything." The guest announced as he made his way in and to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee.

Roy sighed and sat back in his seat, glancing over at his comrade. "Yeah, well I just don't even know where to start this time."

Hughes shrugged and leaned back against the counter, patiently waiting for the brew to finish up. "That's true. But it's not like you to sulk."

Roy scoffed. "I'm not sulking."

His friend gave him a look that quite plainly said, 'really?' in the most sarcastic tone possible. Roy again sighed, this time standing from the seat and stretching his legs and back.

"Alright, you win." He admitted, earning a faint smirk from Hughe's. "Where could she have gone Maes?" He continued, taking a spot next to the man against the counter, allowing his gaze to wander back to the window as if to escape.

"Who knows, she did a good job this time."

"Damn good." Roy huffed and glanced back to the coffee pot which was only halfway finished. "Not a single hint, clue, or hair. Nothing left."

Hughes sucked in a deep breath as he turned and reached into the cupboard, taking out a couple of white mugs. "Yep. But if I know anything about you and that girl, it's that you know her best."

"Gee thanks." Roy sneered half-heartedly.

"Maybe you're looking at it all wrong? Maybe she didn't leave just to 'escape'."

Mustang watched as the man poured a cup of the hot liquid and passed it over to him carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"You keep looking at this like she's trying to hide. You've been hunting down all the usual places and unusual places that you would expect to see a convict."

"Spit it out Hughes, what are you getting at?"

Sipping his drink Hughes laughed at his partner's impatience. "Don't look so serious, if you scowl like that too long your face will get stuck that way."

Roy gave him an incredulous look and instead decided to drink his own coffee, of course burning himself at his hastiness.

"What I'm saying, is maybe you need to look for her in plain sight. It's Christmas Eve, she's a young woman who's had a hell of a life so far, I doubt she would have the energy to go on a crime spree during this time of year."

"You don't know Scarlet at all then do you." Mustang dismissed, blowing on the hot beverage this time before taking a sip, which did nothing. He still burned himself.

"Ahaha, okay, okay you know best, but just think about it. It's worth a shot."

Roy nodded with a deep sigh, thinking about the advice he was being given. Who knows, maybe she went out to go Christmas shopping...with, military money. That was another thing, she'd taken his watch again, probably as a free ticket to get where-ever she needed to go. If there were better ways to track her use of it, he'd probably have found her by now.

"I've gotta get back to work, I know we're technically off today but I'm gonna turn in some paperwork before heading home. You should join us for dinner tonight Roy, Elicia would be happy to see you." The man smiled softly and gave his friend a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight then."

"Alright, see ya." Hughes said before setting the mug down in the sink and walking out.

...

-4 hours later-

Eloise sat in the frozen grass, her hands a rosy pink from shoveling so long in the cold weather. There had been so much snow that her Mother's and Alphonse's tombstones had been completely buried beneath snow drifts. Because she had to take breaks to warm up her hands, it had taken her a solid hour just to unearth them again. Once they were cleaned of the icy pile-up she'd laid down a fresh bouquet of flowers on each.

"Sorry I'm late guys. It takes me longer to do stuff now that I don't have my alchemy anymore." She muttered with a broken smile, wrapping her infamous red jacket tighter around her small body. "I'll never let you guys be forgotten. I'll always come here to take care of you." She whispered, hiding her face from a strong gust of wintery wind in the fold of her jacket. "I'm sorry for turning out this way..." She continued softly. "I've screwed up...a lot. I understand if you're mad. But..." Pause. "I'm under the care of this military guy...he seems nice enough, even if he's strict." The thought of him for some reason gave her a different kind of chill, blushing a little she shook her head violently. "Tch, _none of that._." She scolded herself under her breath.

The Elric girl shivered as she used a small frozen twig to doodle a stick figure portrait of her family in a small patch of snow. "Please don't hate me. I'm gonna do better, I promise. And Alphonse...I'm sorry again. It's my fault you're here in the cold instead of home with me. I'll make it up to you when I see you again."

Just as a few stray tears spilled over her eyes and onto her cheeks, the light, muted sound of snow being packed down came up behind her.

"Hey Wyn, sorry, I was gonna be down there earlier but I just wanted a little more time with them. Can you tell gramma I'll be down soon?" She replied to the sound and shivered some more. As she looked on at the graves she was surprised to feel a sudden heaviness weigh down her shoulders. Confused, she inspected the item that had been draped over her and was met with the Navy blue she'd come to know so well. Gasping in surprise she twisted her body around so fast she nearly fell over. Roy stood behind her and shook his head with the faintest of smiles as she panicked to such a degree.

"M-M-Mustang!? What are you doing here!?" She ranted as she jumped to her feet, then again realized she was covered up with the still warm jacket of Roy Mustang.

"I had help from a friend. Hughe's." He responded calmly and observed his subordinate. "You're freezing. How long have you been out here El?" A hint of concern laced through his tone as he questioned her, noting that the winter sun was already beginning to set and the temperature was dropping fast.

"Um, I don't know...since this morning. I got here around ten."

"You've been out in the weather that long?" He scolded but sighed. "I suppose you can't help but be reckless, it's second nature to you isn't it?"

Not in the mood to deal with his sarcasm she wiped another bit of water from her eyes and he immediately softened, for a brief moment having forgotten just why she was here in the first place. It was no time to be acting like her superior. "Hey, it's alright. I came all the way here because I was-...Well anyways, let's get to the house before it gets any colder."

Nodding she began trudging through the snow beside the last person in the world she expected to see at the current moment.

...

"Well warm up. Can't have you catching something." Pinako advised as she placed a cup of hot tea before the both of them. At that moment Wyn came down from upstairs and sat at the table. He knew all too well why El was here, she always showed up on Christmas Eve to take care of her family grave site. Of course, that never stopped him from trying to cheer her up and lighten the mood.

"So El, I see you brought you master along." The mechanic teased as he sipped his own tea.

Like a demon, Eloise glared. "Not funny!" She belted.

"Ahahaha! Oh come on, it's hilarious! I couldn't help myself."

"Yeah huh! Just put in some effort!" Ellie responded with precision, her face as red as ever.

"You're blushing?" Wyn noted and then took on a sly kind of knowing smile. " _Ellie~_ " He chimed.

"No! Shut it!" She flailed and smashed him in the head with her automail fist, causing the boy to yelp and fall out of his chair. Roy blinked a few times in surprise as he watched the two bicker back and forth, they really were like siblings.

"That's enough you two. Wyn, bring the pot over." Pinako instructed.

The mechanic stood with a pout and a tiny tear in one of his eyes as a response to the pain. Rubbing his poor abused head he moved to the stove and slipped on a pair of oven mitts and brought the large cast iron pot of stew over to the table and placed it in the center. Pinako carefully placed some bowls out along with some silverware and napkins.

"It smells wonderful, thank you for letting me join you." The Colonel said politely and inwardly was truly looking forward to eating something hot and fresh.

"It's no problem. I'm just glad you're looking after El."

"I can handle myself gramma..." The Elric girl grumbled as she dished herself up.

"So, how have things been? I must say I was shocked when Wyn explained everything to me."

Ellie lowered her head a little in shame. "Yeah...s..sorry."

"Oh it doesn't matter. I'm sure they're keeping you out of trouble now."

"More or less.." Roy commented. "It's hard when she's constantly looking for it."

Being spoken of like a kid was irritating for sure, but Ellie was more concerned about the food. It tasted so good, every time she came back she looked forward to grannies cooking. Soon she tuned everything out as she ate and before she knew it her bowl was empty. With a full stomach and the sounds of idle chit-chat filling her head she slowly began to doze off. Wyn had left to work on some project upstairs some time ago, so now it was only Pinako and Mustang who conversed.

"Uh-" The man stuttered as he suddenly felt the pressure of Ellie leaning into his left side. Looking closer he saw that despite her strong as steel pride, she'd fallen asleep, and against him nonetheless.

"She must have exhausted herself earlier." Pinako commented.

"At the graves? It didn't look like it would have taken her that long.." He replied, awkwardly letting her lean against him, too afraid to move and risk waking her.

"The graves? That's only one part of it. Every year on Christmas Eve she shows up here out of the blue and takes care of everyone in town. She shovels the snow, she helps the less fortunate with anything they need. Earlier today she gave up her scarf and gloves to a kid who didn't have any. I know she doesn't look like much to you military folk, but she's a good kid." The elder woman explained as she stood and began the cleaning process. "There's a spare room upstairs, her and Alphonse used to share it. You're free to stay there if you want, make sure she's taken care of."

Mustang looked back down at the girl who slept peacefully and nodded. "Thank you, I will."

...

Review please :D Hope you're enjoying the read.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all for your support and for reading my story! I would like to apologize for not updating sooner. Also, thank you for reviewing! I only just got to see them. Due to the recent raid on fanfic dot net where people were trolling authors with false reviews, I had stopped checking in on 'new reviews' because I was tired of seeing all the fakes. I've gone through and deleted all of the false reviews and everything seems to be going well now, thank you for your devotion! I love hearing from my readers as I am a bit of a closet author. XD No one in my actual life knows that I write at all, so I truly enjoy the reviews that I get. Enjoy the read!

* * *

Christmas morning came within the midst of a huge snow storm that had blown in. The wind rattled the windows and the snow piled against the front and back doors which needed to be cleared every couple of hours. Roy sat at in the living room opposite of Pinako. The two of them both sipped on their coffee's and discussed random matters as the Christmas tree shimmered with lights. Wyn marveled at the presents under the tree as he sat in front of the fireplace to absorb its warmth.

"Should I go check on Eloise?" Wyn asked after a time of looking on at the flames that danced among the logs.

Pinako sighed as she took a sip of her coffee.

"No. Let her sleep, she probably overdid it yesterday."

The mechanic did his best to hide the pout that made it's way to his face. He really loved Christmas, and like a child, he loved Christmas presents. Just then the floor creaked in the direction of the stairs. Wyn looked up towards the sound and was surprised to see a rather sleepy looking Eloise. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders in a bed-head mess. Rubbing her eyes she yawned, then stepped over the back of the couch and plopped down criss-cross.

"Good morning." Pinako welcomed.

"Morning." The girl sighed quietly and leaned back against the couch sleepily. After a few moments of hazy silence she turned her head to look out the window and marvel at the intensity of the storm, but instead, her eyes were met with none other than the Colonel. It was then that she realized she'd plopped down right next to him and because she was unaware, she had looked perfectly comfortable in the close proximity.

"It's a good thing you're finally up. Your mechanic friend has been complaining about opening presents since dawn." Mustang chuckled and sipped his coffee, but nearly dumped it when the girl flailed and leapt away from him towards the other end of the couch.

"Y-You're still here?!" She stuttered but was suddenly overwhelmed by a coughing fit. The man watched as she sunk her face into the crook of her elbow, hacking away until she was finally free of it.

"Of course I'm still here, a certain little _thief_ hasn't given me back my state watch yet." He replied as he adjusted himself now that he was sure she wasn't going to cause him to spill his drink. Something she seemed to be fond of doing.

A dusting of rose graced the infamous miss Scarlet's cheeks, she had forgotten all about the watch.

"Ah, is that how you got here?" Pinako suggested and gave a wholesome laugh. "Honestly with a mother as pure as yours, it's surprising that you turned into such a rebel."

Eloise grumbled at the comment but sighed, she wasn't feeling tip-top today. Though the mood in the room was soothing with its Christmas cheer, low lighting, and warmth from the fire, she just couldn't relax. She wanted to go back to sleep but she was restless, and though the flames were full she was still chilled.

"Presents!" Wyn announced to break the awkward tension and picked up some gifts, handing them out. The morning went on as the group opened their gifts and shared stories of previous Christmas's.

Eloise walked out of the kitchen with a large plate of cookies that Pinako had whipped up the night before.

"It's not Christmas without sweets right?" She laughed and took her place on the couch again, this time keeping her distance from Mustang, stuffing her face with the chocolate chip treasures.

"Easy, don't make yourself sick." Wyn chuckled, if there was anything he knew, it was that El had a thing for sweets. Even if she didn't like to admit it. "How do you stay so thin with how much junk you eat?"

"Talent." She piped back and chomped onto another cookie.

"Alright you two, last gifts, let's open them up so we can get to work. You both will need to go help clear the snow for the house and head to the village to help out there as well." Pinako instructed as she stood by the window and saw that there was a small break in the storm at the moment, the perfect time to get some needed work in.

Eloise quickly tore the wrapping paper off of her present and smiled hugely.

"Wow! Thanks gramma!" She cheered as she held up a large knitted blanket that bore her family's crest. Being the only living member of her family remaining, it meant a lot to have something to remind her that she still mattered and was indeed an Elric. Clearly happy, she stood and flipped it around, wrapping the large item around her cold shoulders.

"I'm glad you like it." Pinako grinned and patted her head the way she did when she was young.

Next Wyn ripped the paper off of his gift and nearly screamed with excitement.

"Yeeeesss!" He squealed as he leapt to his feet and did a ballet type twirl, gift in hand. Ellie had no idea what exactly it was that he was so excited about, but it was clear that his present was some sort of new tool. Of course, all she saw was a strange hunk of metal. Leave it to a mechanic to be that excited over something relating to work.

"Alright, last but not least." The old lady added as she stood and walked behind the tree, picking up a gift and bringing it out to Roy. The man was beyond surprised and awkwardly accepted the item with red and gold wrapping.

"For me?"

"It's from her." The woman explained and gave a quick nod over to the Elric girl. Though at that exact moment Ellie gasped and jumped from her seat, nearly tripping over her own feet which were tightly wrapped within her new blanket.

"Gramma no!" She screeched, attempting to snatch the gift from the man. Roy raised a brow in confusion as the woman easily blocked the alchemist's reach.

"You sit down." The older woman commanded and used the end of her cigarette holder to press against the girl's stomach, the sharp end forcing her to stay back. "You're always hiding your feelings for people. You made it, you might as well give it to him."

"Hehe, _I told you~_ " Wyn snickered to Pinako who smirked but shooed him away with the wave of her hand.

" _Enough._ " She chuckled at the boy who, like a boy, enjoyed teasing his equivalent of a sister.

Unsure of anything that was going on, Roy sighed and shook his head. So much drama everywhere he went, even a small village in the middle of nowhere. Face as red as a Christmas light, Ellie fidgeted in place as the man tore the paper from the gift revealing a rectangular box. With so much tension in the air, he almost hesitated to open it. The only gifts he ever received were usually from Hughes and his family. After a moment to ponder what could be inside, he lifted the cardboard lid. Delicately he reached in and pulled out a neatly knitted, navy blue scarf with a perfect white edge. He couldn't help but blink in surprise, he didn't have a scarf but he never expected to get one from her of all people. It was extremely well made, as if by machine, and was soft as silk.

"You made this for me?" He asked with a genuine gleam in his eye as he caressed it with the pad of his thumb.

"...Y-Yeah...?" Scarlet responded, her eyes bleary from the heat that clung to her face and body. She wobbled on her feet at the thought of Roy having opened the gift she'd made him, and it didn't help when the man smiled lightly and wrapped the item around his neck. It was a perfect fit, and it definitely suited him.

"I love it." He grinned and was clearly pleased with the item. The _particular_ smile he aimed at her, however, sent her over the edge and she passed out from the pressure. Her body thankfully fell in the direction of Wyn who was able to catch her and place her in the chair that was closest to them.

"Eloise?!" The mechanic worried as he adjusted her to be sure that she wouldn't fall from the seat. "What's wrong?"

"She's got a fever." The woman said as she placed an aged hand to the girl's clammy face. "Take her upstairs Wyn, I need to call the doctor."

Roy stood and nervously watched as the young man picked her up in his strong arms and held her close, carrying her away towards the stairs where he went up and out of sight. Pinako noticed how the officer worried, though she was sure he wouldn't admit it. He was a man of few words, but it was clear that he cared for his subordinates...for his friends. With a few light steps, the woman made her way to the wall where the phone hung. Picking up the receiver she placed it to her ear and punched in a few numbers then waited patiently for the other end to answer.

"Hello. Yes Pinako Rockbell here." She began. "I've got a young woman with me who needs quick medical attention..."

Roy listened in as best he could and remained standing. He was sure it was the time spent in the cold weather that had produced his young delinquent in the condition she was in currently. Always so reckless. Still, it was worrisome, having her sick like this. Not only was it Christmas day, so most hospitals would be short staffed to begin with, but the snow was sure to have created limited access to the more rural areas. What would happen if they couldn't get a vehicle up this way? The storm was raging on again with a vengeance, the break had only lasted around an hour at the most. Glancing at the Christmas tree, the man watched the small lights twinkle behind the pine needles. What was this feeling in his chest? Whenever he thought of the thief in his possession he developed this strange sort of heaviness in the pit of his stomach. He was sure it was just the amount of stress she caused him, but...

"Well, the doctor can't make it out here. The roads are buried and the latest measurement was marked at three feet. That's too deep for any vehicle to travel." The old lady spoke as she took her place at his side, resisting the urge to light up a cigarette in the house.

Roy looked down to the tiny person and wore a face of pure uncertainty.

"Well, what should be done then? She isn't well and needs treatment." He inquired, the strong sense of concern lacing his tones. The woman sighed and shook her head.

"Out here you gotta help yourself more times than not Roy. We country folk are used to having to deal with things on our own. I'll make up some medicinal tea and get her a cool cloth for her head."

"That's it? That's your plan?"

The woman grimaced but allowed her irritation to fade from her face. "There's always an ice bath if her fever worsens, she won't like it but it's really our only option. There's plenty of snow outside to help cool her off."

"Would that not put her in shock?"

"There's always the chance, but it's our only option. If the storm lets up, I could send you and Wyn to fetch some medicine, but until then there isn't much we can do. Make yourself at home, you'll be stuck here for a while."

The man watched her turn and leave to the kitchen to begin brewing a tea to try and help the young alchemist to heal.

...

The hours went on and Eloise was awake but weak. Her cheeks were flushed and her face shimmered with sweat despite feeling quite cold personally. Not only was she still feverish, but she'd developed a more constant cough as well. It was incredible how quickly all of this had come on. Wyn sat in his room and tried to work on things to keep his mind busy, though if his sister needed anything he was right there to help. His hands shook as he worried, it wasn't unheard of for people to die of illness during the winter months. It was just a part of life, a sad part, but a part nonetheless. He'd already lost his mother and father to the Ishvalan war, he'd lost Trisha, Hoenheim, and Alphonse. He couldn't possibly take losing El as well. Realizing where his thoughts were going, he shook his head and took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He couldn't let himself think that way, people got sick all the time and recovered just fine. A few days of rest and she would be right as rain.

The winter storm howled like a monster outside each window and the house creaked and moaned now and then with the force. It had been quite a few years since they'd seen a system this severe hit the area. Mustang tried not to pace throughout the house, so instead kept himself as busy as possible helping Pinako. So far he'd gone out to the shed and brought in at least twenty logs for the fireplace. Each trip had covered him from head to toe in snow which melted and soaked his face with icy water. Once he'd finished with that he'd helped in the kitchen with cutting up onions and carrots to add to the chicken soup the woman was cooking for tomorrow. He'd taken blankets and rolled them up tightly, then placed them at the foot of the front and back doors to try and keep some heat in. He'd also taken some quilts and hung them over each window in the house in an attempt to block out the bitter cold.

By the time seven o'clock came around, El was beginning to complain of pain and falling in and out of consciousness. Pinako and Roy had placed cool damp rags on each part of her body but it just wasn't helping. The two stood near the bed and did a quick assessment. Things weren't looking good.

"Granny, I'm dying..." The girl moaned in a hoarse sounding voice. "It's so cold.."

"You're not dying." The woman comforted though with a bit of a laugh as the girl tended to be dramatic when in discomfort. Though this time there was actually reasonable cause for her theatrics.

"Please...give me some blankets." Scarlet whimpered and did her best to reach to the floor where a stack of quilts were. Roy was there to stop her though and took a gentle hold of her wrist and guided it back to the bed.

"Sorry kid, your fever is still sky high." The man sympathized for once. Seeing her like this caused him more unease than he thought was necessary. Each time she coughed, sneezed, winced or groaned something deep inside gnawed at his soul. It was just plain painful to see her like this, he wanted to help her, to make her feel better.

Another hour or so went by as they did their best to keep her comfortable and bring her temperature down, but as the time went on she began to lose congnitive ability. She was slowly becoming delirious as the clock ticked by.

"Alright, I don't think we have much of a choice now. Wyn, go collect some snow in a pail and bring it in." Pinako ordered as she went and gathered some towels.

The boy gave his sibling a worried look but then nodded and briskly made his way out of the room and down the stairs.

"What can I do?" Mustang asked as he followed the woman out of the room and into the bathroom.

"Pick her up and bring her in here, carefully now, she'll be dizzy if she stays conscious."

The Colonel turned without a word and went to his charge who laid in her bed as restless as ever, clutching at the sheet for warmth. She was going to hate this. As he approached her, he placed a large hand to her forehead and sighed. Unaware or unphased, Eloise didn't respond to the touch but she did respond to his presence.

"C..Colonel?..." She muttered. "When...did you get here?..."

The question surprised the man and he shook his head with a weary sigh. "A while ago. Come on, I've got to get you to the bathroom."

Delicately he removed the wet rags from her body and placed them in the bowl of water. As gently as he could he slipped his hands between the girl and the mattress, then lifted her up slowly. Like a limp doll the woman didn't have the strength to hang onto him or even lift her head, instead, Roy had to brace her head against his chest to keep it from hanging down over his arm. As he carried the alchemist into the bathroom, the sheer heat from her body caused him to break out in a sweat.

Just then Wyn rushed in with the pail of snow. The old lady had filled the tub with cool water, and then picked up the bucket and dumped the snow in. The tub didn't look inviting in the least, but it was the only thing they had left to try.

"Alright, we need to undress her." Pinako said as she stood back and prepared the towels. "She won't be in for long, just long enough to cool her off."

The man hesitated, unsure of what he should do, but as he did the woman snapped.

"Well! Get on with it! I'm a small woman and she needs this bath. You're a man of military right? Do as I say and undress her so we can get her in the tub." She commanded with a strong, impatient tone. Being directed in a way he was familiar with, he was snapped out of his emotional distress. He had orders to follow, plain and simple. Gently he began undressing the Elric girl. First, her tank top which came off without too much of a hassle, then he steadied her limp body against his chest as he began slipping off her shorts. Thankfully they were thin and fairly easy to remove. He looked on at the Fullmetal alchemist in his arms, her anti-alchemy collar visible for all to see.

"Okay, go ahead and set her in. Hold her tight in case she jerks away."

As the man moved closer to the tub, Eloise whimpered and breathed heavily. "Mom..." She uttered.

"Hallucinating..." The old woman commented as she watched the girl's half-lidded eyes search around as if looking for something that was missing.

When Roy set the girl into the water, she gave little complaint until it all registered. She wasn't coherent enough to understand what was causing her discomfort, but she knew she didn't like it. The cold sliced into her flesh like a set of knives and she couldn't help but search for the strength to fight it.

"Ss..ss-cold...it's...cold..."Eloise cried as a few true tears began to fall. "...out.."

Right then a loud pounding came from the front door downstairs.

"Who on earth-?" Pinako started but quickly left the bathroom, leaving Roy in charge of the situation at the moment.

"...out..." Ellie sobbed now, too dizzy to fight and not with it enough to even know where she was, she felt like she was drowning. Plunged into an icy lake and left to freeze.

"It's okay, shh.." Roy comforted the best he could, as instructed, he took a wash rag and dipped it into the frigid water then ran it along her shoulders. "I know it's hard, and you don't understand, but this needs to be done. You can handle this can't you?" He urged gently. "You're the great Scarlet...a little cold water won't hurt you right?"

Tears streamed down her face as she leaned back against his arm which supported her upper body, her legs and feet completely submerged in the glacial bath. As he watched her cry and struggle to cope, he couldn't help but be forced to bite his lip. His own eyes watered at her agony, and he wanted nothing more than to embrace her and make it all stop. He had to do something, but what could he do? This poor woman was so ill she needed to have her core temperature forcefully lowered, and who knew if this would even work? A few minutes went by as he ran the ice cold water over her shoulders, chest, and head. His own hand was becoming painfully cold, though he ignored it.

"Roy..." She started as she managed to find his face, her eyes glassy and her cheeks damp. "Please..."

With her plea, he couldn't keep her there anymore and quickly reached over with his free hand and grabbed a large fluffy towel and draped it over his uniform-clad knee. As if handling a newborn child, he placed a hand firmly around her shoulders, and the other under her knees, lifting her out. He listened to her sniffle and breathe as he wrapped the towel around her and carried her back to her room where he laid her in bed. Laying down once again and free of the freezing water, the girl began to drift back into the dark. Her eyes rolling closed and her body relaxing, he left her skin wet to try and continue the cooling process. Roy took hold of the sheet she'd been covered with before and draped it lightly over her body in an effort to give her some sort of lasting comfort.

"Eloise..." He said quietly to himself. At that moment Pinako walked back in, this time an unfamiliar man followed close behind her.

...

I hope you enjoyed!


	10. Chapter 10

Pinako stood near the door as the man walked in with a look of concern and sympathy. His hair was a deep chocolate brown, his eyes a rich hazel blend, and he seemed perhaps middle-aged. Despite being dressed in a thick coat, hat, scarf, and gloves, he carried an air of professionalism with him. In his right hand, he held a rather heavy looking, black leather bag.

"Excuse me, my name is Arthur Quinn, I'm one of the head doctors at the hospital in town. I've been a friend of the Elric family for...quite some time." He introduced as he removed his hat and held it at his side.

Roy blinked in surprise and rose to his feet, extending out his right hand for a firm shake.

"I'm surprised you were able to make it out here. Thank you for coming."

The doctor seemed to laugh a little under his breath in what seemed like a sheepish gesture. "The trucks couldn't get out here, so I actually walked. It took some time though so I do apologize."

Pinako came up to stand beside the two and then stood by Eloise. "We are grateful, please stay as long as you need. I can't imagine you making it back to town in the dark with this weather."

"Thank you." He replied in appreciation, quickly turning his attention to the girl who was mostly unconscious. "To think she's so ill. Seems a bit sad, having such a strong-willed person down for the count like this."

After removing his scarf, coat, and gloves, he knelt down to the girl's side. Roy and gramma stood back, watching as the man began a quick assessment of the situation. The doctor placed a hand to the patient's forehead, then felt her cheeks as well. A perturbed frown found it's way to his lips as he sighed and reached down into his bag, pulling out a small case and then from it revealing a glass thermometer.

"When did she start having symptoms?" The doctor asked quietly as he placed the thermometer in the alchemist's mouth, though she was in and out, she was still awake enough to cooperate for the most part. This was El, she hated doctors, so the fact that she didn't even have enough energy to argue over it, meant that she was really quite sick.

"She had mentioned not feeling well when she showed up here, but all of this didn't start until this morning."

"Alright. I took note of the symptoms you told me on the phone." While he waited for the thermometer to finish its measurements he turned and faced Roy. "I didn't catch your name, are you a friend of the family as well?"

Roy thought for a minute. "You could say that. My name is Roy Mustang." The official replied and watched as the doctor gave him a brief nod of acknowledgment but then reached down and gently removed the thermometer. When he looked at the glass reading he seemed to take a mental note and then set the instrument on the tableside on a cloth.

"She's sitting at about 40.3."

"That high?" Pinako muttered from the bedside.

"Judging by her current state, I'm assuming you gave her an ice bath?"

"Yes." The old woman answered, walking over to a closet and pulling out fresh bedding.

The doctor nodded and pulled out a stethoscope, placing the metal plate to the girl's chest. "If that's the case then you likely brought her temperature down to a degree. She could very well have been running around 41 degrees. Either way, her fever is still potentially dangerous.

As Arthur listened to the girl's chest he sighed in what sounded like relief, easing some of the tension.

"Good news is, it hasn't moved to her lungs. It seems she's come down with Influenza, though you should all be careful, it could quickly turn to pneumonia. Not to mention you all need to be on guard for symptoms of your own, this is highly contagious."

Roy took a seat in a chair near a desk in the room and watched as the doctor continued to check his subordinate. He couldn't help but feel bad for her, she was in such extreme discomfort.

"Eloise." The doctor began.

The alchemist slowly lifted her eyelids and looked on at him, a sleepy and pained expression on her face.

"I haven't seen you in years. Hmhm, you're going to be alright." The doctor smiled. "It isn't any fun right now, but you'll be better in no time. You just have to rest."

The Fullmetal alchemist groaned weakly and seemed to be a little more alert at the moment. Perhaps having been addressed by her name had helped? Wincing, her breath hitched in her throat. Arthur, of course, noticed and placed a gentle hand to her shoulder.

"What is it?"

"Hurts." She said quietly and brought a tired arm up and placed a hand to her head, grimacing at her own touch.

"I understand." He replied sympathetically. Over the next few minutes, the man fished around in his bag, wrote things down, discussed matters with the other two adults among other things. The storm raged on outside, causing the house to creak and unknown objects outside to be thrown around occasionally. There was no sign it was willing to let up anytime soon. Eloise listened to the voices around her the same way she would listen to the rain. They were there, and they were clear, but she drowned them out within her mind. Allowing them to become nothing more than static in the air. Her whole body ached and throbbed. Every little sound irritated the pain in her head, she couldn't think straight. Though she wasn't sure if there was really anything to think about in particular. She hated having time to sit around, even if she was sick. All it did was allow her mind to go through the dusty remains of the memories of long ago. She didn't want to think about those times, but it was those times that comforted her while simultaneously being the cause of her agony. Their faces, their smells, their touch. Her family. When left alone within the corridors of her mind, there was never a place to escape to. It was times like this when she was forced to stop running, that her past would catch up with her.

"Alphonse.." She whimpered under her breath in a quiet whisper. Silently, hot, salty tears began to invade her eyes and then drip onto her clammy cheeks. Like a double-edged sword, they burned her skin in long uneven lines, but then cooled and soothed the hot surface of her face. How she wished she could just end it, sometimes it seemed like _that_ would be her best option. _That_ thing which was so frowned upon in society. The ultimate escape. She felt so alone, what was there for her to live for anymore?

"Hey." A louder voice came from right beside her. The sound startled her from her black hole of a mind and she found herself staring into the coal black eyes of Roy Mustang. He looked upon her with a scrutinizing expression. "You looked like you were somewhere you shouldn't be." He continued, picking up a handkerchief from the bedside table and wiping her eyes and cheeks with its soft cotton.

That's right. How could she have forgotten?

As the man doted upon her tears, she blushed, unable to speak, unable to think about anything other than what was happening now. Roy was there, he'd always been there. Despite her running from him, he was never far behind. For years, he never knew that she was the Elric 'boy' he'd done his report on when she'd attempted human transmutation. Still, he had been there. All of this time, she never realized. Through everything, even if she didn't want him to be, he had been there. Suddenly she thought of a world where, perhaps, he wasn't there. The feeling that broke through her chest with that thought caused her eyes to water even more. He was the one thing that never gave up on her, yeah so maybe his motive was to throw her in handcuffs, but he had still never given up the chase.

"Kid?" The man asked as he wiped away her fresh tears. His eyes were soft this time, and his brows knit together in a worried way. "Are you alright? Doctor Quinn said you'll be well soon. Just gotta give it some time."

He gave her a kind-hearted smile and she was sure her heart would stop. What was this feeling? She truly didn't understand, but she managed to give him a small grin in return, despite being sickly and covered in sweat.

The man was shocked, she'd never given him a smile like that. In fact, she'd never really smiled at him in general. She was always throwing fits, arguing, trying to best him in any way she could manage, she was sort of a brat in general. Right now, however, he felt he could see her true colors. Although she was bedridden with a high fever, that smile seemed genuine.

With a small grin touching at his lips, he sighed and shook his head. Returning to his feet, he tousled her damp hair, then without warning slipped his hands beneath her body and lifted her up into his arms. Though she was weak and tired, her eyes widened with sudden embarrassment. Her messy blonde locks draped over his arm as he held her close.

"P-Put me down!" She whined and squirmed the best she could, though her movements were stiff and weak.

A bit irritated at her struggling, Roy held her a little tighter.

"Relax, they are changing the bedding. Let me help you." He insisted though was caught off guard by what she did next.

" _No!_ I don't need your help! I don't need you or anyone!" She cried out, her golden eyes thick with desperation. The man stood in silence, looking down upon her in confusion. Like a blade to his gut, he tensed. The worst part was he didn't even know why but something within was not happy with her at the moment. She was just sick and not feeling well, though her fever had come down to a small degree. Steeling his own emotional state, he glared at her through piercing eyes.

"What are you talking about? I'm only here to bring you back. You're a criminal who needs to be supervised. That's all, but I can't do that until you're well."

With the bed remade with clean fittings, Pinako approached the two and seemed to have a serious air about her.

"I think it's time Ellie got some sleep, you too Mustang. It's going on two a.m" The old woman instructed in a way that expressed there were no other options. She could be rather intimidating for a half-pint elder.

Feeling the tension rising, the doctor cleared his throat and reached into his bag, the sound of items clanking and shuffling around from within filled the small room.

"I'm going to give her something to hopefully at least help with the pain and fever. I also have something to help her sleep soundly."

Eloise was laid back in bed, her body still hot and clammy. Mustang quietly covered her up with a light sheet to prevent her from overheating even more. He didn't feel well, he felt rigid. His neck and back were aching from some kind of intense stress. Why had she said those things to him? Did she really hate him that much? She seemed happy for once, and then like a light switch she changed. She was closed off once again, hiding her emotions deep within where no one could reach them.

After a short, pitiful protest, the Fullmetal alchemist was made to swallow a couple of pills and then to rest against her pillow once more. Though she tried, she just didn't have the strength to stay awake once the drug began to take effect. Finding it would probably just be better to let go and sleep, she rolled over. She could hear the shuffling and footsteps that moved towards the bedroom door. How she wanted someone to stay with her. To not be alone. Why had she told him off like that? It wasn't like she'd meant to, not necessarily. She just, felt like she had no choice. He was bringing out something inside her that she didn't recognize, that she wasn't sure of. It scared her to be unfamiliar with her own feelings.

"Goodnight Eloise." Gramma Pinako said as she turned off the light and quietly left, following the two men out.

Ellie's lip quivered as she tucked her face beneath her sheet. It hurt. Why couldn't she just let herself be close to others? Roy always made her feel strange, she didn't know if she hated his guts, or if...

Feeling more tired now, and the pain in her head subsiding, she closed her eyes as a few lonely tears fell down her cheeks to soak into the bed. Lost within her own mind, she eventually succumbed to sleep.

...

Sorry its a bit short this time around, but I hope you enjoyed!


	11. Chapter 11

The next four days went by at a snail's pace. Doctor Quinn had kept a close watch on her throughout the duration but had left earlier that morning on an emergency call. Ellie had left her bed to use the bathroom or get in a short stretch to ease her sore muscles, but for the most part, she slept.

Roy hadn't spoken to her since _that_ night, in fact, she hadn't even seen him. She knew he was there, however, as she had overheard him talking with the others a few times. Her heart swelled with emotions she couldn't understand, it was like she had done something horrible, but she didn't know what and yet the guilt was there. She felt like perhaps it was the way she had spoken to Mustang, the words she'd said, but why? It wasn't that bad, she just told him that she didn't need any help.

As she lay awake in her bed, she felt the sun climb through the window pane and sighed in comfort as its warmth blanketed her arms. The sun, that meant it had stopped snowing, at least for the time being. Turning her head, she gazed out the window across the room. She still wasn't feeling the greatest, but thankfully her head wasn't pounding as much today. Downstairs she could hear the others talking, though their words remained a secret.

Nothing about this seemed right. She'd been on her own for such a long time, sleeping in this house just didn't seem...natural. She had allowed herself to get too comfortable with her life as of recent. Because of her long leash, she'd forgotten that she was truly a prisoner in the custody of an Amestrian soldier. Why was that? What had made her think that things were okay? An hour or so went by as she pondered but nothing came easily to her. Annoyed, she brought a hand up and satisfied an itch beneath her metal alchemy-binding collar. That was another thing, several months had gone by and she was still trapped without her alchemy. She could feel it becoming unfamiliar to her, it would take some time to bring her skills back to the surface once she had it back.

Sigh.

"Sorry gramma..." She muttered to herself as she quietly climbed out of her bed and rested her bare feet on the cold wood floor. At first, the movement made her dizzy, leaving her body heavier than it should have been. Still, she made her way to the dresser where Pinako had put her now clean clothes. The floor creaked suddenly as she began dressing. Holding her breath, she peeked towards the door to make sure no one was on their way up the stairs to inspect the noise. After a moment or two, she decided the coast was clear and finished up by throwing on her boots and infamous red jacket. Seeing herself in the mirror like this, she felt a wave of relief. The final touch was to pull her hair back in a braid. This was the person she truly was.

She poked her head outside her door and looked down at the living room where the three sat enjoying morning coffee. It wouldn't be hard to sneak out from the top floor, she'd done it all the time when she was younger. However, she was quickly finding that there was a problem. The more she moved about, the more she tensed, the stronger the itch in her throat became. Her cough had settled down greatly since first bedridden, but now that she was on her feet it seemed to be coming back. Whether it was her more rapid breathing or just the dry air, it didn't matter, if she fell into a coughing fit someone would be sure to come and check on her. That simply couldn't happen.

Part of her felt guilty for leaving like this, but she couldn't keep pretending that everything was fine and back to normal. This house brought back too many painful memories, and she wasn't the same person she was back then. She didn't belong there. Everytime time she stepped over the threshold at the front door, flashbacks displayed her blood on the floor, the tears as she sobbed that her brother and mother were gone, that it was her fault. They didn't seem to realize how much it hurt to be here in this place.

Tiptoeing back to her door, she silently pushed it closed, slowly turning the handle to keep the latch from clicking loudly when it shut. Delicately she feathered back across the aged floor and stopped at her frosted window. It's sill still bore the scribbles she'd artistically placed there when she was young. The frame was surprisingly quiet as she lifted it up, the cold breeze that entered chilled her to the core. Her breath came out in foggy clouds as she shuffled her way over the window sill and out onto the side of the house. There were a set of beams that she'd used ever since she was a kid to escape the room, usually when she was in trouble. Looking down as the icy wind licked her face, she placed her food in the crevice beside the beam and then pulled the rest of herself to it, holding on tightly. The crosshatch style boards that connected between the two beams made for a perfect ladder. To the best of her ability, she reached across and closed the window. Her hands were freezing already, she assumed it must have only been around ten or fifteen degrees out. In a familiar rhythm, she began to shimmy down the 'ladder', each board slick and caked with snow. Her fingers began to throb as they held on. She stifled a scream when she suddenly lost her footing, both of her feet slipping from their supports. She dangled there for a moment, trying to regain her stability, but beneath where the snow had been, was solid ice.

"...gk..." She groaned as she began to lose her grip, the frigid air numbing her hands. A gasp escaped her lips as she finally slipped from the ledge she held onto, luckily it wasn't too far down. She landed in a snow drift that had accumulated beside the house, and thankfully so as it silenced her fall as well as prevented her from being hurt. Getting up quickly, she brought her hands to her mouth and huffed a few breaths on them to dull the sting.

 _Two hours later._

"I'm telling you, I don't think she would want to become an official military soldier. Working under you as a paper-boy maybe, but other than that..." Pinako explained as she placed a collection of winter nuts on the table in a decorative bowl. Wyn remained quiet as he listened, he still hadn't forgiven the government for the loss of his parents at Ishval. It was something that should have never happened, regardless of the excuses the military gave, he would never believe it.

"I don't know, maybe that's what she needs?" Wyn suddenly piped in, he'd not said a word for at least an hour and had preferred to sit on the couch in front of the fire than at the table with the others.

"What do you mean?" Roy inquired, sipping on his coffee. He watched as the mechanic sighed and leaned his head back.

"The only reason she does all those things, getting into trouble I mean, is because she hates being stagnant." He explained.

"You mean she's bored?" He responded with a somewhat less than impressed tone. The blonde turned back and glared, standing and making his way to the soldier. An accusing sort of look on his face.

"If you had gone through what she's gone through, you wouldn't want to have time for your mind to wander either. She's not a bad person, she probably doesn't even like doing the things she does, but its the only way to keep her mind busy enough to keep the bad out."

Roy looked back to the table, allowing his eyes to rest on the rich brown liquid in his mug as he considered the boy's words.

"Still, that's no reason to-"

"Isn't it though? She doesn't hurt people, she just plays these games to stay busy. Think about it, why else would she stay so obedient to someone like you?"

Pinako stayed quiet as she listened, waiting for a moment to arise where she needed to silence Wyn and diffuse the situation.

"Obedient? Do you have any idea-"

"If there's one thing I know about her Colonel, it's that she hates taking orders, she likes being the master of her sails, yet she still listens to you for the most part. I think it's because you've given her something to focus on." Pause. "It's more than what I could do." Wyn added as he looked away, and if Roy didn't know any better, he'd say there was sorrow there. Then it suddenly became clear, the two had grown up together for a good portion of their lives, he'd probably had a crush on her from the beginning. "I haven't seen her this relaxed in a while, I don't know why or how, but you've managed to bring the old her back a little."

Roy sighed. He wasn't good at this...family..type stuff. He was pretty much alone other than his line of work. Still, maybe he was right?

"Anyway, just don't forget who you're dealing with, she means a lot to us, she's not just some person on your checklist. You do something to hurt her and you'll have me to deal with, I don't care if you're an alchemist." The mechanic said as he allowed himself to relax a little. "I'm gonna take some lunch up to Ellie."

The others watched as the boy made his way to the kitchen and threw together a sandwich and poured some milk into a glass for his friend, then went up the stairs.

"Did I...do something?" Roy asked a bit awkwardly. Pinako shook her head and lit up a cigarette right there at the table, something she normally never did.

"No. He's been like this ever since she left. Ellie isn't easy to get close to anymore, she basically left us behind. We all know she still cares and considers us family, but she doesn't allow herself to become invested in things or people." She paused for a moment to puff on her cigarette. "No one can get close to her." She repeated.

Roy was quiet for a time. "Well, what does that have to do wi-"

"Because you did."

The man didn't quite understand. He knew what she was trying to say, but he didn't see how it made any sense. Eloise wasn't close, she was his charge. Were they mistaking that sort of closeness for something else?

"Gramma!" Wyn's voice bellowed from upstairs, Pinako and the Colonel both erupted from the table and rushed up the stairs. Expecting to see Eloise needing help or in trouble of some kind. Once they reached the doorway, however, there Wyn stood, the tray of food in his hands but no one to give it to.

"Where is she?" Roy asked as he walked further in, looking down at her bed where she should have been. "She didn't come downstairs, we would have noticed."

Pinako sighed heavily and took a longer than necessary drag off of her cigarette. "Good lord, what are you up to now El." She muttered as she walked to the window, opened it up and then stood aside. "She left. The snow is disturbed and her tracks are out back."

"What?! She's too sick! There's no way she could-" Wyn began as he set the tray down on her bed. "Her stuff is gone."

"Mhm.." Pinako added. "She felt like she was getting too close. So she left. To be honest I'm really not surprised."

Wyn grit his teeth together as he looked down, hand's balled into fists. "What did we ever do? Why won't she let us help her?" He uttered as he did his best to hold back the water from his eyes.

"Well, you'd better go find her." Pinako instructed as she left the room, Wyn followed her out as Roy looked out the window at the path she'd left.

"I'll grab my coat." The mechanic said hurriedly but as he was about to rush past his grandmother she held up a hand. "Not you dear."

Wyn didn't quite understand until she turned back and looked into the room, focusing on the soldier who was still turned toward the window.

"Him?" The boy asked, a little unsure.

"We both know it needs to be him."

Mustang shook his head and turned toward the two, he walked through the room and then out past the both of them. Making his way downstairs, he put on his heavy, military coat. A sense of duty about him, but also an air of worry. Before he could walk out the front door, Pinako placed a hand on his arm and then handed him the scarf Ellie had made him. The corner of his mouth pulled up into the slightest of smiles as he shook his head, taking the item and wrapping it around his neck.

"I'll find her. Don't worry." He assured and as he opened the door, but noticed that the storm was apparently making a come back. Snow was falling and being blown sideways, thankfully at the moment it wasn't very thick but that was likely to change.

"See that you do." Pinako added as she watched the man turn and walk out into the snow.

"Shouldn't I go too?" Wyn protested, but Pinako shook her head and sighed.

"No. It needs to be him. Come on, we need to stock the woodpile in the house before the blizzard buries it again."

The two watched as Roy left on foot, in search of the fullmetal alchemist.

* * *

Sorry it took so long to update! And don't forget to review! What do you think is going to happen?


	12. Chapter 12

It took Roy longer to get to town that he would have preferred, but following her tracks through the snow wasn't easy considering they were becoming less and less visible. The blizzard had picked up considerably but it was the icy wind that was the problem. He would have to thank El again for the scarf she'd made for him, it was the only thing keeping frostbite away from his face.

The tracks he followed brought him to the back of a building, a back door. Of course, the famous Scarlet couldn't just use the front door, ha. He took hold of the freezing handle and walked in, he found it entered into one of the taverns. Drinking again? Though he looked around, he couldn't find her. She wasn't there.

"Excuse me." He said as he addressed the barkeep. The man at the counter turned around and set down the rag he'd been using to dry some glasses.

"What can I get you?" He asked.

Mustang sighed as he embraced the warmer air. "I'm looking for someone. I'm sure you know the Elric family. Have you seen Eloise?"

The man seemed a bit put off by him. Clearly he didn't want to give her away.

"I'm not her enemy. We're friends."

The desk man snorted a laugh. "Friends? I've lost too many good people, real friends, for your kind to be considered 'friends'."

"If you're talking about the war, that has nothing to do with me. I'm a victim as well. Please, I need to find her. She's sick."

The man seemed to sigh and looked down. Mustang could tell that this was a good man, simply watching out for the girl. She'd probably spent a day too many drinking there. Again the barkeep looked up, a bit of worry to his aged eyes.

"She did seem under the weather. She came in only for some whiskey, probably an attempt to warm up, but then she left again. She was heading downtown, said she was train bound."

Roy nodded. "How long ago?"

The man huffed out a breath as he thought hard, he didn't much pay attention to the time on days when the shop was mostly empty. "I'd say about half an hour."

"Thanks." He said as he turned and made his way out the door. The storm was getting even worse. If he didn't hurry it would be impossible to find her. He rushed across the street and broke into a run. If she was heading to the train station he might not make it in time. Down the streets he ran, there was too much snow for any cars to run, so that left him to make the chase on foot. Despite being half frozen and worried about his thief, he laughed. Maybe it was the wrong time and place, but there was something nostalgic about the moment. Did he miss chasing this young woman all over Amestris? Of course he did, he'd spent so much of his time hunting her down, and here he was again. This time, however, he didn't intend to let her get away. The further he sprinted the more his chest tightened, the air was so cold it hurt. It was as if he could feel every part of his lungs slowly encasing in ice. Ignoring the pain, he forced himself back into the mindset of a soldier, it didn't matter how much it hurt, how much it burned, he couldn't stop.

Just then he heard the train whistle echo through the town, it would be leaving soon.

"Tch, shit." He cursed under his breath as he dashed, there was no way he was going to make it. He had to stop her before she got away, once she was on that train it would be impossible to find her, and he didn't want to have to spend the next six years tracking her down again. Anyone he happened to run by looked at him like he was crazy, some people were even afraid and went back indoors.

The snow was heavy now and it blinded his sight as it battered into his face, on top of it all he could feel his eyelashes trying to freeze every time he blinked.

Suddenly he came to an abrupt halt, nearly slipping into the white that smothered the ground. There to his right was an open barn where an older man was cleaning some of the stables. He hated doing this but he really had no choice at the moment, with all authority he pulled out his...wait...

"Tch, where the hell is-..." SIGH. "Dammit Fullmetal.." He cursed under his breath, she'd swiped his watch _again_ at some point during the last few days. He would have to scold her for that, how many times did she plan to rob him blind? It was making him look bad.

"Can I help you?" The man in in the barn asked as he rested a pitchfork against the wall inside.

"Yes. I need to borrow your horse please, its a military matter and an emergency."

The man blinked in surprise but shoved his hands in his pockets, then turned around and walked inside. Roy glared.

"If you refuse-"

"Now just keep your head on, I never said no."

Oops. Mustang was in such a flustered rush that he'd assumed the man was refusing to help. Now he just felt like an ass.

"Here ya go, this here's Gale, she's the best I've got. Once you're done with whatever it is you're doing, just tell her to go on home and she'll come back here to me." The man explained as he scratched his graying beard and opened a stable door where a beautiful black Arabian stood. Her coat was silky and well maintained, her mane long and thick.

"Thank you." Roy said as he watched the man adjust her bridle, then lead her out.

"Now, If you military folk don't listen to anything, at least listen to this. This gal demands respect, you start pushing her too hard or ya use the wrong tone and she'll send ya flying. I promise ya that."

The colonel was inwardly amused by the level of love this man had for his horses.

"I understand, thank you." With that the soldier hoisted himself up in one fluid movement, sitting tall on the arch of her back.

"H-Hey, I haven't got the saddle ready yet."

"There's no time, thanks for your help." Mustang said as he clipped the horse with his heals and the beast took off in a loud gallop out the doors.

The old man stood there and again put his hands in his pocket with a sigh, lighting up a cigarette. "Huh.." He muttered but then turned back to his work. "Boys never have any patience.." He laughed lightly.

The blizzard seared Mustang's already wind burned face as he pushed Gale into a full run. It had been a while since he'd been on a horse, but he adjusted well enough. Regardless of how he felt about everything, he had to get to Eloise before she got on that train. The snow kicked up in a wild flurry behind him as the horse sprinted across the town of Risembool, five minutes went by before he could see the train station, people already boarding.

...

Ellie stood and shivered in line, her hands were damn near frozen, not to mention her feet, her ears, her nose. Everything either stung from the icy bite, or was completely numb. Her heart hurt, she felt so lost in the world. If only her brother were here, he was always good at saying something at just the right time to make her feel better. She didn't even know why she was feeling this way, she had always managed to be okay, to keep her spirits up. But ever since...

She shook the image of Roy from her head and huffed a few ragged hot breaths into her freezing hands, which only made them feel worse as soon as the heat dissipated. A cough ripped through her lungs and throat, the more she stood in the cold the worse she felt. She hadn't expected to feel better anytime soon, but that didn't mean it was any more tolerable. Honestly, all of this was his fault, she'd been fine on her own.

El gasped in surprise as she was suddenly blinded by a flash of black and navy blue right as she was walking up to the door of the train car.

"Hey! What the hell are-" She cursed as she fell backward to evade the immediate contact by the horse that had appeared before her. Annoyed she lifted herself from the snow she'd fallen in, and glared up at the man on the horse. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw just who that was.

"Mustang!?" She screeched.

"That's Colonel Mustang..." The man smirked as he held the horse steady. The girl took a hesitant step back and then glanced around to see where she could run to, this wasn't a large town, getting away wouldn't be easy. "That's right.." The man started, catching her attention once more. "I've got you. You won't be going anywhere-" He began, bringing the horse quickly around as the girl continually attempted to take off. "Except for with me, but that won't be until we get clearance from a doctor."

Ellie pressed on, trying to get around the horse, to run away, but stopped suddenly. Those were the same words he'd said the morning he'd met her in the hospital. She looked up at him and found that he smiled at her, this was a friendly smile, not an _'I've got you this time'_ smile. As she huffed the cold air, trying to catch her breath she looked away. Why did he try so hard, was he really that upset about her criminal history? It's not like she was a murderer.

For some reason her eyes watered, he was such a pain! Why did it hurt so much to leave!? She growled under her breath before twisting around on her heel and sprinting the fastest she could towards the train again, Mustang wasn't sure what she was up to, the train wasn't moving yet. Of course, then he watched her leap between the train cars and onto the other side of the tracks, crap. He leapt off the horse and gave her a quick pat.

"Go home Gale!" He shouted as he took off after the girl. The horse snorted as if annoyed he didn't say thanks, but then turned and trotted off.

Quickly Roy hurtled over the space between the railroad cars and chased after Eloise. Where was she even running to? It was pointless.

"Ellie..?-huff-" He muttered as he stopped around some crates in the train yard. Had he lost her? Breathing heavily from the run, he began looking around, though it didn't take him long. As he walked along, he stopped when he heard some sniffles and a short cough come from behind a spare railroad car. As he rounded the side, he looked down and saw Scarlet sitting on a step, clearly tired and unable to run anymore.

"Why are you here Colonel." She asked wearily. Resting her chin on her arms which were wrapped around her knees at her chest.

Sighing, pleased that he didn't have to chase her anymore, he took a seat beside her.

"Why do you think I'm here?" He asked gently, rubbing his hands together to try to get rid of some of the burn. The snow was blocked a little more here in the train yard, giving them the ability to just sit there for a moment. They listened as the loud rumble of the train beginning to move erupted through the air.

"To arrest me and take me back to Central."

Roy sighed and shook his head. "Why do you keep running away?"

"From being arrested?" She asked as if it was a stupid thing to ask.

"No." He replied, keeping his tone smooth and even. "From the people who love you."

For a time she remained quiet, why was he asking her this? Couldn't he just stick to his job and stay out of what didn't concern him?

"There's no place for me here. If I stay, people get hurt, if I go, people get hurt. I honestly wish I didn't exist anymore, I should have been the one who died that night."

Roy listened quietly.

"You don't have to be alone you know."

With this Ellie exploded from her spot and spun around to face him. "What do you know!? Have you killed your own brother? Did you try to bring your mother back to life and instead give birth to a monster!? Did you run away from the only people you had left in your life in guilt!?"

"Ellie calm down."

"No! You think you know-"

"Ellie my entire family is dead. The only person still living is my aunt, and I can't say I've ever been on good terms with her."

Suddenly silent, Ellie was caught off guard. She'd been selfish, only thinking about herself and throwing out accusations when she knew nothing about this man.

"I..I'm sorry." She finally whispered, unable to make eye contact.

"It's alright."

"What..um.."

"What happened?" He finished for her.

"N-No I-"

"Heh, it's okay to be curious." He chuckled, breathing some warmth into his hands. "I was only six at the time. My father was upset about something, I don't know what exactly but it had to do with me. That much I do know." He paused as he recalled the events of the morning so many years ago. "All I remember is he had come home from a late night at work, he'd been drinking, I can remember the stench was so strong I could smell it from across the room. From there it's blurry, but I remember I was scared. Next thing I knew he was on top of her on the floor, strangling her. Even though I was scared, I ran up to him and started hitting him but everything went black after that. My aunt says he'd pushed me away and I had hit a shelf so hard it knocked me out."

Eloise listened and her heart ached for him. She knew what it felt like to lose the ones you love, those ones in particular.

"When I woke up I remember my aunt was there with me, and I remember the doctors asking me strange questions, like my name etc. But what I remember the most, was when I snuck away from them and into the living room. My parents were under sheets, when I looked under them I saw my mother. Even though she'd been strangled to death she looked so peaceful and beautiful, like she always did. My father though, he'd apparently been so disgusted by what he'd done that he put a bullet in his head. There was so much blood, but most of it was soaked into the carpet."

"Roy I-"

"I always blamed myself. Why couldn't I stop him? Why wouldn't I save her? Them both? Why were they arguing about me?"

"No you can't be like that! You were just a little kid, you were scared. You tried to save your mother but it wasn't your fault she died! You shouldn't blame yourself for things you did when you were young because that's what you thought was best at the time!"

"I know." Roy replied and turned to her, giving her a small smile. Now she understood, he'd said all of those things for her. To make her feel like she wasn't alone. Her eyes watered as she set her eyes downcast. "There's people here who love and care about you, you don't have to stay away just because you've made a few mistakes in the past."

She turned a little as if to avoid the conversation. "I know, but gramma and Wyn are-"

"Not just them El.." He added and watched as she looked up again, a little confused and unsure of what he was saying.

At this moment the man stood, looking down at her with a gentle gaze. It suddenly became clear to her that he was the one he was referring to. She felt her cheeks warm at least a few degrees and coughed a few times.

"I-I don't suppose you'll let me get away?" She hinted as she looked up at him.

"Well, that's not really in my job description now is it." He replied, and as she was sure he was going to pull out his handcuffs, he instead removed his heavy coat. She watched in confusion but then blushed when the man wrapped it around her shoulders, and even more so when she saw he was wearing the scarf she'd made him. "You really are going to catch your death out here. Come on. The storm is only going to get worse." He instructed as he pulled her close to him and they made their way slowly out of the train yard. "Do me a favor."

"What?"

"Save your next escape attempt for when you're well. Also..." He continued as he swiftly reached inside her coat and into the pocket of her red jacket, simultaneously snatching his state alchemist watch as well as the bottle of whiskey she'd collected.

"Aw come on..." She grumbled, ducking her head to keep the snow from blowing onto her neck. "Th-That's what you're worried about? Alcohol is good for you when you're sick."

The man laughed under his breath.

"Not for an alcoholic, but nice try kid."

...

Review.


	13. Chapter 13

The scent of musty wood and hot coffee filled the train, and though the sun was setting in the winter sky the outside world remained illuminated by the snow that continued to fall. Thankfully the train was remarkably quiet for how many people were aboard, no doubt due to the cold weather and most everyone's desire to simply rest and enjoy the warmth the train had to offer. Ellie hadn't spoken a word since she'd said her goodbye's to Wyn and Pinako. Needless to say, they weren't happy with her, but they weren't necessarily angry, just hurt and concerned. They didn't understand why she constantly hid the truth, and ultimately chose to keep her distance. To be fair, El didn't even know the answer to that. She just couldn't bear staying there in that house, on that land, there were too many memories. The rumbling of the train on the tracks did little to soothe her mind as she leaned back against the seat and gazed at the passing white landscapes outside her window.

A few moments later a gentleman came by with a trolly and knocked on the thin door, Roy acknowledged him and the serviceman opened it up, offering them a small dish of mixed nuts to snack on as well as some freshly brewed coffee.

"Thanks." The Colonel said quietly and watched the man close the door and leave them in peace.

"Kid, you really should eat something..." Roy encouraged as he plucked a few almonds from the bowl for himself.

Fullmetal glanced over at the bowl, it wasn't that she wasn't hungry, but rather that she felt if she ate she would throw up. Her nerves and emotions had been running wild all day and she felt that food wouldn't fit well into the scheme.

"At least drink something." He pressed and moved her cup closer to her along with the sugar and cream that had been left for them.

Sighing, the girl leaned forward, her mouth was dry so perhaps a few sips wouldn't hurt. Even though she didn't much like the flavor of coffee.

"Roy.."

The man looked up as he sipped on his coffee and set the mug back down to the wooden table. To her surprise, he didn't correct her on her informal addressing.

"Why don't you just give up on me, why do you keep me around? I'm just a hassle for you right?"

The man across from her chuckled lightly, catching her attention and bringing her to look up at him in confusion.

"I won't lie, you are a pain in the ass..."

Taking it as a sort of confirmation she lowered her eyes again, choosing instead to watch lazily as she mixed the sugar in with the hot liquid of her cup, taking note of the increasingly hot handle of her spoon.

"but..." The man continued. "I think you deserve a chance. Despite your sticky fingers and major attitude, you're a good person, and everyone I come into contact with who knows you only prove that to me more."

Scarlet could feel the warmth rising to her cheeks, and something inside burned with an emotion she couldn't understand.

"You shouldn't spend time on me...I'm not worth the trouble. I won't change, because I can't. This is who I am."

The man just smiled gently. "Well, then I guess you should start getting used to this."

His statement caught her off guard and so she again looked up to meet his gaze.

"I have no intention of giving up on you or sending you off to rot in a cell. " His tone was sincere but also serious. " I spent six years tracking you, studying your tactics and tendencies."

So that's what it was, she was just a prize. A trophy to commemorate his efforts in the hunt for the famous Scarlet Thief. A bit disappointed she looked away and out the window. Why was she so upset about this? What was she expecting to hear? What was she... _wanting_ to hear? Her heart pounded in her chest as if angrily trying to escape, and her mind raced to quiet it.

"Tch" She muttered to herself in frustration. "Well if I'm just some trinket that you've picked up on your journey then I'd prefer prison, so you can just take me there when we get to Central." she said hotly.

Blindsided by the sudden change in her demeanor, Roy sat in silence for a time. What was her problem? She was so hard to read at times, but he could tell she was hurting somehow. Thinking back on their more recent encounter at the train yard, he thought perhaps...maybe he understood.

"Ellie" He began.

"Save it..." She snapped, keeping her hard stare focused out the frosted window.

"Eloise..." He tried again, this time more sincere. Just as before he was ignored, figuring she needed time to organize her own thoughts, he chose to leave her be.

An hour or so of continued silence passed by between them before they began to sense the train slowing down. From the train, to the car where Hawkeye was waiting patiently, Eloise said nothing and seemed as aloof as she'd been the day she'd met Roy. It made the Colonel uneasy with how suddenly different she was, had he done something wrong? No, couldn't start thinking like that, after all, she was a young woman with a difficult past, it made sense if now and then she was a bit temperamental.

Once at headquarters, the three exited the car and began up the steps, though it took a moment before Mustang noticed that his subordinate wasn't following.

"Sir?" Hawkeye paused at the top near the doors, she was a little more concerned than usual. Mustang had been damn near silent the entire trip from the train station, he normally at least always explained a few things or shared how his travels were.

"I'll be right there, you go on ahead."

"You sure?" She asked, some worry in her eyes as she looked on at the Fullmetal Alchemist who stood at the bottom of the steps, ankle deep in the snow that had accumulated on the pathway.

The man gave her a reaffirming grin and nodded, with that the woman accepted the request of her superior and went inside the building. Sensing he was needed for one reason or another, he walked back down the icy steps and stopped near the girl.

"We should go inside, you're still quite sick." He insisted in a hushed voice as to not seem authoritative. She glanced away and kept her amber eyes downcast, frustration all too visible.

"Mustang..." she paused. "I can't stay here. Alchemy or not, I have to go."

A bit more serious, the man sighed and adjusted his cap on his head.

"How long are you gonna do this for Eloise?" It was his turn to be irritated now. The girl sensed his tone and lifted her eyes to meet his and there was more than a challenge there.

"Do what exactly? Bow down to your orders? To their orders? I'm like a rat caught in a cage here. I have nothing here." She snarled, glancing back at the car which still had the keys in the ignition as the valet hadn't yet arrived, likely due to the weather. Large snowflakes fell from the sky and landed on her golden head.

"You really don't get it do you, are you really so clueless?"

This only seemed to upset the girl more.

"Get what?! I want nothing more right now than to end my suffering and you only want to prolong it! I'd take a bullet to the head in a heartbeat!"

Suddenly Roy glared and in an instant jerked his hand into the fold of his inner coat, pulled out a pistol and cocked it back, placing the barrel firmly to the young woman's forehead. The action jolted her from her ranting and froze her solid, the cool steel seemed to burn her skin. As she looked beyond the metal she caught sight of the most intense set of obsidian eyes she'd ever seen. The eyes of a man who had killed before, he was obviously angry, but there was something else in those eyes...was that..sorrow?

"C-Colonel..?" She stuttered, her breaths came out in ragged form as her body trembled beneath the weight of what was happening.

"You think you're so alone in this world but that's only because you won't let anyone in. You _literally_ run from the people who care about you. Your suffering is your own, it's nothing that I've done." He paused for a few moments. "You scared?" He threatened, retaining the same severe tone.

She didn't answer. It was true, she was all but petrified. Resolving herself to the fact that she didn't know if he was serious or not, she placed an unsteady hand to the barrel of the gun and wrapped her fingers around it, pressing it harder into her skull. Her gaze a fiery bronze, but as she glared tears began to stream down her chilled cheeks.

"Fucking do it. I dare you." She growled, the fierceness in her voice left Mustang rattled to his core. She was this ready to accept it, she hadn't been bluffing and he'd only given her exactly what she _didn't_ need at that moment, and that was a chance to get comfortable with the idea of dying right there on the steps of Central Command.

"Damn it all..." He cursed under his breath as he took the gun away from her forehead which was now clammy with sweat. Disturbed by how easily she'd given into the concept of death, he fired the loaded shot into the air, then tossed the gun aside. He looked down at the woman who did her damnedest to keep her emotions in check but he could see her bottom lip quivering. Though she commanded it, her tears refused to stop flowing. After a few seconds of them watching each other for any other sudden moves, Roy moved in slowly and wrapped his arms around the girl. In the midst of her chaotic mind, she was in no condition to deny him. His warmth comforted her on a deeper level and she tucked her head beneath his chin easily, forbidding herself to let out even a single whimper as she hid her face in the cool fabric of his heavy coat. As Mustang held her tightly, he felt her body tremble and shake.

"What kind of woman looks down the barrel of a pistol and makes a face like that?" He scolded, though his own voice shook a little at the memory. What kind of a person was he dealing with here? She definitely needed some extensive therapy. Never had he seen a person look so fierce into the face of death. He wasn't actually going to kill her, but she didn't know that, and she didn't know him well enough to call his bluff. So as far as she was concerned, he _was_ serious.

As he released the girl she looked up at him with a cocky as ever smile. "Keh, d-don't you know? I'm the notorious Scarlet...that was nothing." She lied, even he could tell she was still shaken. Sighing, the smile faded and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her red jacket and as she did her best to clear the blur of tears from her vision, she was shocked to feel the soft lips of Roy Mustang press against her forehead. Blinking in surprise, Eloise peered up into the eyes of the man who stood before her as he took a step back. Though it had only been a brief moment, she could still feel the linger of the kiss he'd left on her skin. He shook his head as he huffed out a tired laugh.

"Come on..." He said calmly. " If you don't come inside I will personally throw you over my shoulder and take you in myself." Gracing her with a smile he turned and began his ascent up the steps.

"Hey Mustang..." She called after him.

"How many times must I tell you, It's Colonel Mustang or Sir-" He began as he turned around but stopped just in time to see the state alchemist watch that came flying toward him, catching it with a slight lack in grace.

"Damn it kid!" He cursed as he pocketed the item with a huff. He shook his head as she ran past him toward the doors. The girl let out a heavy breath of relief at having some space between them. Still, something bubbled up inside her as she thought about the kiss he'd planted on her forehead. Somehow, in that instant, everything was better. In that one insignificant moment in the universe, he'd fixed everything, and with just one small act confirmed that he was a man she was sure she couldn't stand...but was sure she couldn't stand to be away from.

* * *

Sorry it's taken so long! I've had a ton going on. I will do my best to get another (hopefully longer) update in sometime soon. Feel free to leave reviews!


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